I Never Promised You a Rose Garden!

I always think about that old song when things get a little hard. Do you remember it? It was an old country song and I was really young when it came out, but I do remember those lyrics…”I beg your pardon! I never promised you a rose garden!” Now you can sing that all day! You are so welcome! HA!

It’s not that things are really bad around here at all! There’s just a LOT going on and we are just plain T-I-R-E-D.

We’ve had a wonderful weekend with our Disciple Now Youth Weekend at our church! The Lord showed me that having 15 girls for the weekend could be such a great time of growth for them, and also give them a little glimpse of missions. I loved having the teens help with some of the things that we need for the upcoming Africa trip and they were so willing! Doing VBS anywhere, but especially in a place with limited resources, takes a lot of planning. These girls helped sooo much!

I love having others involved and hopefully they are catching the vision that we can share Christ and His Word in so many different and creative ways. These girls are putting together visuals for the story of creation for us to share with the churches and children in Africa. I can NOT wait!

We’ve also had a sweet friend return to the States after seven months in Africa! We are so excited to have her home and to see that she is doing so well! She’s just beautiful and I can’t wait for things to slow down a bit so that I can hear ALL that God has done in her since she’s been gone.

Caroline is VERY happy to see her!

She will actually help us care for Caroline while I am gone and I could not be more thrilled to have her! She is use to helping care for and homeschool 3 girls while she worked in Africa so she is perfect for this job! We will be meeting soon to plan and talk and plan some more. It’s the most amazing blessing!! The Lord truly is providing in every way!!

Things are still in progress as we plan to leave in a MONTH! I can not believe we are getting so close to our departure date! I plan to put our itinerary on my blog in hopes that you will pray for me and our team as we head out for this adventure!

We have been buying things that the missionaries need, planning Bible stories with illustrations and skits and crafts and we’ve been getting SHOTS!! Lots of immunizations are needed to travel to a 3rd world country so that we are healthy while we are there and when we return. Never in my life have the words “malaria” and “typhoid” been a part of my regular vocabulary!! We’ve also continued to try to raise money so that all 9 of our trips are paid for before we leave. God is good and He’s continuing to provide. He will do it! I just know He will!!

SO at some point this house needs a good cleaning! I suppose I should get busy, but please know that your prayers are so appreciated and felt as we prepare to go! Some of you have stopped me to say that you enjoy reading my blog and that you’ve prayed! HOW PRECIOUS!! I had no idea! What a blessing you are to me!