I'm leaving on a jet plane

Today is the day the 2013 South Africa journey begins.

On Sunday evening we'll arrive at the Ten Thousand Homes property. I'm looking forward to hugging some necks!


Here are some blogs that have ties with Ten Thousand Homes.

KNOWN
Hearts For South Africa
i believe in love
A Journey of Hope

I suggest you check them out to learn more about what's happening in their neck of the woods.

What will I be doing there? I'll be working with the team at the feeding programs and teaching at the Compassion Discipleship School and whatever else comes up.

And, now, I'm trying to get excited about a really LOOOOOOONG flight or two.

Mine Fields

Yesterday we had a training day out at Coventry.

One of our exercises was to walk our partner through a mine field with only our voice. The partner was blindfolded. I did NOT want to guide anyone. I don't think I'm a good guider. And when they called on me I begged them not to. Yeah, that worked.

So, they blindfolded my partner and I began to freak out a bit. I had chill bumps.

They added a twist. Everyone that wasn't on the mine field made noise. My partner had to concentrate on my voice and I had to stay close to her so she could hear my voice. And I had to stay calm.

I was doing okay until someone started twisting a plastic bottle. That's when I was ready to flatten someone! It was weird. They were putting my partner in danger and I was on the verge of taking them out, but I had to stay focused on her and remain steady.

The point of the exercise was to understand how many of our participants feel all the time. They are constantly bombarded with distractions because of how their brains function.

What got me was how inadequate I felt to guide and how protective I felt about my partner. I was wanting to yell at the person with the bottle that if they didn't stop making that awful noise I was going to hurt them. But, inside me I knew that probably wasn't a good idea.

One of the cool things about Coventry volunteers is that we all get that all of us are special needs in some way or the other. We all have situations or physical difficulties that make us function differently, that cloud our thinking sometimes. Now we get it a little bit more.

And, if you want to take it in a traditional spiritual direction: We have to concentrate on God's voice when we're walking through our mine fields. The great news for us is that He will always be at our elbow and He will always be calm.

The Rock

"Trust in the LORD forever,
For in GOD the LORD, we have an everlasting Rock."
Isaiah 26:4

"Do not tremble and do not be afraid;
Have I not long since announced it to you and declared it?
And you are My witnesses.
Is there any God besides Me,
Or is there any other Rock?
I know of none."
Isaiah 44:8

"For who is God, but the LORD?
And who is a rock, except our God,
The God who girds me with strength,
And makes my way blameless?"
Psalm 18:31

"The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,
My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge;
My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold."
Psalm 18:2

"There is no one holy like the LORD,
Indeed, there is no one besides You,
Nor is there any rock like our God."
I Samuel 2:2

"For You are my rock and my fortress;
For Your name's sake You will lead me and guide me."
Psalm 31:3

New Orleans Five

The following is a letter written by our fearless team leader:

Hey Parents,

Have you heard enough about New Orleans? I can't stop thinking about our trip. I especially can't stop thinking about our awesome students! Not one of them gave me any trouble. We had change after change during our stay and each one of them rolled with the punches. They were ready to serve. God stretched each and every one of us and we met HIS challenge.

Please give me a moment to share my memories:

• We were deeply impacted by the "tent city" of homeless under the freeway as we turned ourselves around after a wrong exit from the interstate.
• Amanda begging me to take our leftover pizza back to the homeless who lived in the tent city.
• Gary rushing out the door to help with the VBS battle.
• Our student's solemn faces returning from that first VBS then their determined looks to go back and love them in Jesus' name.
• Olivia's strong words of disappointment in the kid's behavior and then her determined look to go back and love anyway. All because she wanted to be obedient to Christ.
• Rachel's encouraging words to love the unlovely. She wisely compared our past experiences in Juarez and challenged to students to take that same love to the children in the projects.
• Our boy's valiant faces when we told them we need them as "bouncers" for the rest of the VBS's.
• Lizzy's look of love as she befriended one to the toughest girls in the group.
• Corinn's sweet dirty face as she worked with the boys everyday at Canal Baptist Church. This is a downtown church that was destroyed by the flood and is finally rebuilding. It's a deaf church and now Brent Robertson knows sign language!
• The hungry eyes of the intercessory team while Gary and Nancy served yummy homemade meals. Ask your students about the homemade biscuits, enchiladas, sloppy joes, eggs, bacon...
• Katie Morrical's laughter as I got lost several times delivering lunch to the teams. We crossed the bridge twice and had to pay twice!! No mercy from the toll lady.
• Daniel Feller's midnight birthday party.
• The smell of homemade cookies thanks to you and Nancy Purdy.
• The sounds of worship thanks to the worship team. NOTE: Worship and devotionals were led by our students!
• Will Menzies bravely standing by my husband as he kicked out some misbehaving boys during the block party.
• Paige enduring the fact a little boy just threw up on her!!!
• Emily taking care of Cornelius, yet she left him behind. (an ear of corn she picked at the downtown mission.)
• Kelsey staying behind one day to help me clean the facility.
• All of our faces of amazement as we viewed the areas where the levee broke and how high the water rose.
• The empty blocks where houses once stood in the Ninth Ward... only street signs and fire hydrants remain...
• The sounds of car horn beeping in appreciation as we stood and prayed at the Ninth Ward memorial. One day your child will hear the voice of our Father saying "well done good and faithful servant."

Thank you for raising great warriors and allowing us to take them to serve our neighbors in New Orleans.

Have a great summer and God bless your families.

Living in the River of HIS GLORY,
Leslie

New Orleans Three

It has rained all day. Buckets and buckets. Torrents upon torrents. Is New Orleans really where you want to be when the rain won't stop?

Yesterday the center director kicked the VBS team out and said they could come back today. The team arrived to find the building locked up tight. They called to find out the reason. The director was getting on a plane and had forgotten to give someone the key to open the doors. Playing in the park really wasn't an option - due to the torrent upon torrents.

Riddle burned his hand with boiling water as he helped in the kitchen. They've taken him to the "Doc in the Box". It looked nasty.

Downstairs they are celebrating Feller's 18th birthday. The frosting Corinn made for his cookie cake has enough sugar in it to keep the whole group up all night. The guys already celebrated by taking his clothes while he was in the shower. With friends like that...

I am emotionally drained. The news about the Chapman family has weighed on my heart all day. My prayer is that God will give them a peace that passes understanding.

"and I got it..."

I love this blog entry by my friend, Lori, about an African grocery store in Nashville.

Dreams Come True...even in Africa

I just can't help it. The stuff on Bush's blog from his trip to Africa has been wonderful. I feel compelled to move people to his site so they can read for themselves what God is doing and how He is working in the lives of people in a country that many think is not worth caring about. Has God given you a dream as He did this man? Have you seen the dream become real? What has it done to or for your faith?

My 15 year old is with child!

I could not let the Spears clan one up me, so I am announcing with great pride that my almost 16 year old has a child. Her name is Laura. She is five years old and lives in Guatemala. Corinn found her at Mitch McVicker's concert a couple of weeks ago. Since Rinn has a good paying job teaching kids to flip and flop (and I don't mean like a politician) she decided to start sponsoring a child through Compassion International.

Phil and I sponsor Jason from the Dominican Republic. He writes the sweetest letters. In his last letter he said he was learning about God everyday and asked us to pray for his mother and sisters. His village is in the mountains and was not damaged by the hurricane. Someday I hope to meet him and his family.

There are thousands of children around the world that need sponsors. Pick yours out today. It will do you both a lot of good.

Kung Fu

Tonight found me watching a friend take a belt test in Kung Fu. His parents could not be there and I gladly filled in. I'm nice that way -- sometimes. I'm used to sporting events that involve clapping, screaming, shouting, yelling, whistling, and throwing hands in the air. This was nothing like that. The room was beautifully painted in relaxing colors and calming music washed over us. Everything was very pleasing to the senses, except for that really sweaty guy, but he was working hard. In fact, he down right scared me a few times. I kept thinking, "he does know I'm just two feet from him," as he spun and kicked. When he brought out his bamboo pole I got really worried. Not knowing anything about Kung Fu, or any martial arts for that matter, mess-ups were hard for me to spot. It helped when the person would pause with a "deer caught in headlights" look or said "Chihuahua" under their breath or just had the panic-stricken "I'm gonna throw up" face. My friend did a wonderful job. At least, he told me that he had accomplished what he had set out to do. So, in my book that makes it wonderful. At the end of the testing came the tea ceremony. That would have been very lovely except that they lit incense. I do not like the smell of incense. I never have, but now that I have been to China three times, it brings sad memories of people bowing to huge statues after purchasing packages of incense to light and offer. I'm so thankful that my God does not require that of me. He requires all of me, but I don't have to bring incense along.

true religion

"To hold fast to God with one hand while you open wide the other to your neighbor-that is true religion and undefiled, that is the law and the prophets, that is to live the life Jesus came to teach us about and to demonstrate to us. "
George McDonald
spoken by his character, Thomas Wingfold, in Paul Faber, Surgeon, 1879

Stripping Dirty Waxed Floors

The place I work in is stripping and re-waxing the floor. Apparently this is done twice a year. Once in the summer and once during Christmas break. You don't really notice the grime until the stripping takes place and the new wax shines.

I've been watching this process for a couple of weeks now. It reminds me of how gunk builds up in my heart. Layer upon layer at a consistent pace. I don't notice because it becomes the norm, just like the brown film on the blue and white tiles. But, it has to be stripped - just like the floors. Sometimes I don't like that. I fight the Sander. I wish I could follow the floor's lead and just let it happen, lie there and let the process take place. Enjoy becoming clean again.

Another thing I've noticed is that the floor isn't mopped everyday so the dirt builds up fast. (Sort of like my kitchen floor, but we aren't going to talk about that now.) Maybe, like my soul, if it was scrubbed everyday it wouldn't take such drastic measures to keep it looking (or feeling) good.

Gunk On/Gunk Off