Speechless....

Reading this girl's blog (thanks Amanda for sharing it) has had me on a roller coaster of emotions... which I'm usually on;). She has sacrificed the comforts of home and followed God to her new home... Uganda. She's 20 years old and mothers 13 Ugandan children and provides food and education for 400 others. Why?? Because it's what WE are ALL called to do! This is not just her passion or her gifting!!! This is OUR job!! All too often we are spectators sitting on the sidelines of this spiritual war. Am I saying that we are all suppose to move to Uganda? No, probably not BUT I can't tell you how many christians I know (most of the christians I know) who SIT by and allow attrocities to continue and NEVER do anything about it!! I may not be able to be in Uganda caring for these sick, dying children but by golly I will do my part while I am here... I will share their plight with as many as I know so that their hearts are pricked and burdened by their suffering. I will continue to sponsor a child so they can go to school, I will use my gifts and talents to share His love with those I come in contact with and pray without ceasing for the hurt and dying in the world. GET off YOUR couch and DO something!!! Here's an excerpt from her blog that I love.... READ it and let it break your heart for these children!

I am MAD. I have been sad and broken for these children for so long and it has finally turned into a hardened anger. I am angry that this culture so lies to women that Michael's stepmother believes that she does not have to care for this child who is not biologically hers, though she has ample means to. I am angry that in the "Pearl of Africa" and the most fertile region of it at that, a mother has litteraly NO food to feed her baby, not to mention herself or 6 other kids. I am angry that the result of this is that these sweet ones suffer in their innocence. I have said it before and it still holds true: I DO NOT BELIEVE that the God of the universe created too many children in His image and not enough love or food or care to go around. In fact I believe that He created the Body of Christ for just that, to help these little ones, the least of these. And I believe that except for a handful, the Body of Christ is failing. And its not just me who thinks this. When I'm angry, I like to research so that I can at least feel a bit justified in my rage ;) According to several differnt resources, there are an average of 147 million orphaned children in the world today (this statistic includes children who have lost only one parent as well), 11 million children starve to death each year or die from preventable, treatable illness. 8.5 million children work as child slaves, prostitutes, or in other horrific conditions (making things like that cute baby Gap dress Jane wore today...) 2.3 million children world wide are living with HIV.

That is 168.8 million needy children like Michael and Patricia. Seems like a big number, huh? It shouldn't, because there are 2.1 BILLION people on this earth who profess to be Christians. Jesus followers. Servants. Gospel live-ers. And id only 8 percent of those Christians would care for just ONE of these needy children, they would all be taken care of.

And now I'm just sad again. And I want to take care of all 169 million. But as I look into Patricia's eyes, that since just 48 hours ago have turned bright and smiley, as I smell her hair freshly washed with baby shampoo and snuggle her into her new footie pajamas (side note: is their ANYTHING cuter than a baby in soft cotton footie pajamas?!) God tells me that this one is enough. That He will hold the others while they wait for someone to come along and hold them tight and give them their milk and their medicine. That He doesn't ask me to take them all but to stop for the ONE because that one is Jesus, His son. Stop for the little boy with white haid and scabs covering his body, stop for the baby with feces covering her dress, so weak she can't hold up her hear. Stop and take the ones right in front of me any trust Him with the rest. He whispers that it will be ok and that I can smile because tonight 2 less children are hungry and that is good for today.

I love that peach shirt, it goes great with your skin tone!

Ahhhh... what a day! Today was the first "Free Compliment Day". I saw an article about these guys at Purdue University handing out free compliments once a week and I knew that I HAD to do the same. I rounded up some cool friends and headed out to the local super center with a sign and a smile. We had the BEST time ever!!! The people loved it!!! they LOVED it! I cannot tell you how many people went out of their way to come over and say how our compliments and smiles made their day and how the world would be a better place if more cheer was spread. It was obvious how their moods changed so quickly with just a simple, "we like your beard" or "good job pushing your cart back in the store". They chuckled, smiled and laughed out loud all morning long. Our plan was just to spend about 45 minutes to an hour spreading cheer but it easily led to almost 3 hours of compliments. I'm SO thankful that God has given me the opportunity to share His love with others. Thank YOU God for helping me cheer others up and not tear others down. Thank you for helping me devote my energies into good rather than negative, political bashing, laziness, etc. Please prick my heart again often to share Your love. It's why we're here... help me be a vessel that leads others to You.
Here are a couple of pics of the day. The little old lady was our favorite complimentee of the day! She was just amazing! If you're needing a compliment or wanting to spread some cheer, we'll be passing out free compliments at Wal-mart in Conway next Saturday.

Good stuff...

the BITE... *start scary music*

This Sunday morning I woke up with a nasty, odd bruise on my inner thigh... it's a spot where it's obviously not from an injury. It also had a white circle in the middle with a small knot in it.... Cam and I immediately guessed it was a spider bite and most likely, a brown recluse spider bite. We decided to go to church and see if it got worse... if so, we'd go to the ER to see if they would do anything for it. After church, it had gotten quite a bit brighter, red ring around the bite and the bruise was much darker. We decided to go to the local ER... WASTE of time! not to mention $100. He pretty much told me that it should be okay since it wasn't hurting but that I should make a doc appt for the next day. Grief! Anywho... the bite still doesn't hurt. Part of the bite spot has gotten darker, part has gotten lighter. I read that approx. 10% of brown recluse bites end up with necrosis (where the tissue dies). SOOoooo, we're guessing it was probably a brown recluse bite that is in the other 90%. It was pretty scary, though... Eeeeekkkk! Have I mentioned how much I despise brown recluse spiders???!!!???

Born Again..

This morning I was driving Andrew to his recorder lessons with Grandmommy. I heard this song that I've heard several times over the past few weeks but this morning I HEARD it for the first time. It's by Third Day, it's called Born Again. I cried through the entire song. I mean, literally wept... overwhelmed with the knowledge of being born again. The promise I've been given to spend eternity with my Father literally overwhelms me. I've done nothing to deserve this promise but for some reason He drew me to Him. Sometimes I feel like He gives me a glimpse of my life and I can see moments where He grabbed my hand, protected me and led me to Him. Forever overjoyed!

Born Again Lyrics..

Today I found myself
After searching all these years
And the man that I saw, he wasn't at all who I thought he'd be
I was lost when you found me here
And I was broken beyond repair
Then you came along and you sang your song over me

It feels like I'm born again
It feels like I'm living
For the very first time
For the very first time
In my life

Make a promise to me now
Reassure my heart somehow
That the love that I feel is so much more real than anything
I've a feeling in my soul
And I pray that I'm not wrong
That the life I have now, it is only the beginning

It feels like I'm born again
It feels like I'm living
For the very first time
For the very first time
It feels like I'm breathing
It feels like I'm moving
For the very first time
For the very first time

I wasn't looking for something that was more
Than what I had yesterday
Then you came to me and you gave to me
Life and a love that I've never known
That I've never felt before

It feels like I'm born again
It feels like I'm living
For the very first time
I'm living for the first time
It feels like I'm breathing
It feels like I'm moving
For the very first time
I'm living for the first time
In my life

Happy Birthday Andrew Reagan!

Today our sweet Andrew turned 6. SO hard to believe he's already 6 years old! He had his party on Saturday and it was loads of fun! He LOVES science, so we had a Mad Scientist party. Everyone made goo, we had a geyser, a volcano and dirt cake! He had SO much fun!
He comes with me to work and then shuttles about a hundred yards to his school. Today I had duty in the hallway so he came with me. One of the science teachers asked if he wanted to come into his room... well YEAH!! ;) He actually has been in EVERY science room in the HS. This teacher had a snake.. a pet python! Andrew was giddy! Coach Buchanan pulled it out and asked if Andrew wanted to hold it... WHAT?? Are you kidding me? Before I could even freak out about this question, Andrew said, "YEAH" and threw his backpack off and had it in his hands. He was SO excited! I'm sure he told everyone in sight today about holding that python. Sweet, sweet memory he'll have forever!
He is a true sweetheart. He brings SO much happiness and joy to our home. He's an excellent big brother to Parker and Piper. He loves to find "mysteries" and bones and bugs, etc. He's very inquisitive.. very smart.. He's quite the musician already;). This morning while fiddling around with his recorder he placed his hands in a different position and said, "hey, that's a D".. listen and he played the D he knew how and then played the other one again and by-golly.. he was right. It was a D. This weekend he sat down and taught himself to play Old MacDonald by ear.. so sweet! He loves to learn!! I can't imagine what God has in store for him in the future! My humble prayer is that our God would choose to set him apart for His glory! That He would use him and Parker and Piper to bring Himself honor and to lead others to Him... this really is the only thing that matters!

A little bit of everything..

We had Andrew's 6th birthday party yesterday... I hope to write a post about it Wednesday (which is his birthday).

School has been going great! I love the high school! I'm learning tons of Geometry;).

It's going to be a terribly CRAZY week. Cameron has pre-employment training for HP this week from 6:00 - 10:00. We're very thankful he was asked to do it and very hopeful BUT this week is going to be hard without him. He's really not going to have time to come home so I won't see him at all. I'll need some prayers to make it through work all day and then home all evening without him... we'll get by but I sure will miss him, so will the kiddos!

I had a sweet talk with a lady from my old church today. We were at a baby shower together. God used her to encourage me and remind me how powerful He is. I LOVE talking to others whom God just beams through!

While I'm on God's blessings... He has reunited me with an old friend who is SO dear to me. Kim and I met in Rwanda. She and I were instant friends and have so much in common. She's from Canada and I've lost touch with her over the past 5 years or so and out of the blue she emailed me. I am SO excited about finding out all about how God has blessed her over the past 5 years... thank You God for good friends, even if they live far away!

Well, off to bed... my neck has been really bothering me lately so I've taken a muscle relaxer and I'm hoping to sleep well.. Good night all!