What's Important?

It's been said that love can move mountains. I haven't seen any mountains relocate in my lifetime but somehow the saying seems powerful and true. I was chatting with a friend today and we were talking about love and what's most important in life. What do we value? He posed the question to me of - "What is important?"

I thought for a moment and then wrote this...

giving

sharing

honoring one another

lifting one another up

loving and forgiving others and self

dying to myself and my ways

acknowledging when I am wrong

being transparent even when it's scary

being accepting of one another even our faults

nurturing each others gifts and talents and building into each others dreams and heart

to give without expectation of receiving

to love generously and without agenda

to make sure the people I love know that I love them

breathing, laughing, embracing

I know there is more to what's important and maybe we all have a list unique to who we are and what we value. For me, love is at the top of my list. It believes all things, hopes all things and endures all things and it NEVER FAILS.

What is important to you? Can you define it? Are you living it? Acting on it? Creating it?

I hope so, because this world needs you. Your life, your fire, your love, your passions and gifts and expression. It's unique and wonderful and totally YOU.

Life

It seems like life has a way of showing up and smacking me in the face. Circumstances appear that cause me to rethink what I believe about God, my purpose or maybe even question why I am really here.

This past week was a week of loss for me. I lost a friend that was young (42) and vibrant and full of passion for life. She lived it well and was an survivor of cancer as well as a mom that loved her kids and family like crazy. She passed out at the gym one day, was in a coma from there on out until she finally slipped away almost 2 months later. Her family spent day after day reading and singing and loving on her as her eyes were closed and she laid still. Family reported that she would occasionally be found with a tear streaming down her cheek as her children would say goodbye for the day. She could hear them. She knew they were there but her brain was not willing to let her respond. Watching this scenario progress each day tugged at my heartstrings. This was my friend, someone I laughed with and hugged and shared experiences in life with. Someone I trusted my heart with and knew would speak truth when I needed to hear it. Someone with a great love for people - who wanted to help them achieve their dreams and goals. It gave her joy to serve. On the day of her viewing, 800 people were in attendance to give their condolences to her family. 800 PEOPLE! That wasn't the funeral - that was just a viewing. This woman impacted peoples lives and it made me take a look at how I am living mine and the choices I make. Am I living authentically from my heart? Am I speaking my mind when I have something to say? Am I giving of my time and resources to others - or am I all about my own comfort and small world? Watching a friend live life so fully one day and then be gone the next was one of those wake up moments, the reminders that come to us from time to time that say, "Hey - are you living life and embracing love?" "Are you telling the people you love - that you really do care?" "Are you pursuing the dreams that make you come alive - the ones you were created to live out?" These have been my ponderings the past two weeks. I don't want to waste my breaths. I don't know how many I have left. All I know is that I have been given life to live it. I choose to live it now. What are you choosing today?

Trust

It's amazing how much a person can impact another. Some in a positive way and others in destructive ways. Take for instance, my growing up years. I knew my mom was always going to keep her word and come home every day. She said it - she did it. That built trust in my relationship with her. She had integrity in her word. When she said she loved me, I believed her because her actions consistently lined up with her words.

There are some people in my life that over the years affected me in a darker way. People that didn't have my best interests in mind and abused situations where I had given trust freely. As I got older, I quickly realized that there were people who didn't live by the same code. This was baffling to me because I grew up fairly sheltered and believed all mankind knew the rules to the game - be kind to your neighbor - share - apologize - tell the truth.

But the real world offered something else. A place where wounding occurred.

Consider Adam and Eve in the garden - in all their innocence and purity - they trusted. They had no reason to fear anyone or anything in their world. Then one day everything changed. Eve took a bite of some tantalizing fruit that altered the course of their future in an instant. Adam and Eve had broken trust with God. They had made a choice that would forever transform their experience on earth. They 'knew' things now.

As I look at my life in retrospect - I have come to 'know' things. I have tasted the fruit of love and loss. I have experienced the joy of creating life and the pain of a broken marriage. I have a micro-sized glimpse into God's heart and the ache He must have felt when He was betrayed.

But God created us to be resilient. Our hearts somehow take in the hurt and are able to heal and go on. I choose to trust - some days are harder than others because my past knocks on the door of my heart and reminds me of stories that I have lived out. I am a creation of the sum of many experiences, words, thoughts, interactions and that has shaped and formed me into the woman I am today - strengths and weaknesses combined. This can complicate matters quickly.

I want to live my life as someone who walks in trust. And my heart knows that trust is the only way to move forward and experience new things. I am working on that and know that God can rebuild the broken places of my soul.

Giving

I decided to start updating this blog so that I could actually keep track of my blessings. I am not a big 'journal-er' and find that typing is much easier than me sitting down with a pen to write. A good friend of mine told me last night that he has nicer handwriting than I do - so that encouraged me to begin TYPING my thoughts and ponderings. If you choose to read them - maybe you will be inspired. If nobody ever reads this - my life will go on.

I had an experience this weekend that I wanted to share. It was an experience in giving.

Giving defined means - To present voluntarily and without expecting compensation; bestow.

Giving is one of my favorite things, in fact it is at the top of my list of 'things to do that are fun'. There is something about the process of planning and creating the 'giving' and then moving the giving into verb form- action. I gave to someone this weekend and it was probably the most excited I have been in a long time. It was someone that tends to go under the radar in life and lives quietly while the world spins and moves around them. This person is a giver. I have seen them in action and watched them do things that could actually go unnoticed because they are so stealth about it, but the 'trained givers eye' always sees. Givers notice other givers. I am not bragging - it's just a fact and this 'giver' I know, deserves to be given to. (say that 5 times fast!)

There is something so powerful about getting out of ourselves and immersing our hearts into another. It is what Mother Teresa lived her life doing. Now don't hear me saying I am comparing myself to her - there is NO comparison. However, she inspired me with her life of sacrifice and giving. She loved deeply. She was committed to a cause that was so much bigger than her. She trusted God for provision and allowed Him to work through her on this earth to touch lives.

As far as my friend goes who I gave to this weekend - they were definitely impacted. It was uncomfortable for them - they squirmed and struggled to process what was happening. It brought up internal 'stuff' that they had to wrestle with around the subject of receiving. I watched with baited breath as they pondered the moment - it was almost painful to observe - painful and yet beautiful because in that isolated experience, deep things were occurring. It was powerful to share this moment with them. They came out of it unscathed and I believe actually enjoyed it once they got past the discomfort. I was blessed to give and blessed to know they received. It was the highlight of my weekend and my heart is full. Full of the memory of the moment and the curiosity of how the giving will play out in their life as the days, weeks and months progress.

That is what I long for - to live simply and beautifully as a vessel of love and giving and hope to the people I connect with in this momentary vapor we call life. Maybe that is my calling - my mission - my purpose. Who knows - all I know is that when I do it, I feel alive and joyful and inspired and complete. I suggest you give to someone today. Even if it's a smile - you could create a ripple with a look, a hug, a touch and as far as the benefits? Where do I begin? You won't regret giving ever. So if you read this blog today and are inspired, leave a comment and share your giving experience. I would love to hear about it!

Heaven On Earth

Well, all my good intentions to blog went straight out the window. Once our work week began, time got away from me.

Every day we would go out to the children's home with our team and work on projects. Some people painted buildings, walls, some people planted gardens, some dug trenches and others took down large quantities of dry, overgrown grass. There were kitchen crews and baby caretakers and things were a buzz each day that we drove in with our fully loaded vans of workers. The children were so excited to have the activity going on at the homes. We worked on two separate orphanages in Swaziland. Matthias and I were at Emmanuel and the other team went to one called El Shaddai. Emmanuel is what we call a phase one home. They recently moved in to their new dwelling and now comes the process of getting them established and sustainable. El Shaddai is a phase 4 home and nearing it's completion on being a self-sustaining home, with income and food sources.

We spent the week with our little sponsor girl Elizabeth. Her Siswati/African name is Nobuhle which is pronounced: No -bool-lay. There are some cool Siswati sounds that come from the 'hle' combination but I will reserve that for when you hear me speak her name.
She is an angel. Words cannot begin to express the love we have for her in our hearts. It was difficult to leave her there when we left. She is a beautiful little soul and her smile lingers in my memory.

Every night we would have a Young Hearts meeting. Young Hearts is a group of youth that choose to serve in Africa or have a heart for Africa. The youth on the trip, gathered every night after dinner for some sharing about their day as well as singing and laughing. It was such a powerful way to end each night there and I believe everyone left that place transformed. We had a group of Taiwanese youth that spent the week with us. A bunch of high school kids traveled over for the first time and they were absolutely amazing people. It was hard to say our goodbyes when the time came to leave and I know that Young Hearts has been ignited with a fresh fire on this specific trip. My role with Heart For Africa is to work with the youth and connect them so that we can fund raise and create possibilities for the children in Swaziland. I believe great things will be birthed from our time together there. GO YOUNG HEARTS!!! WOO HOO!

Matthias and I are decompressing. It takes a bit to re-enter our culture after being saturated with third world issues. The relationships forged and the moments that were breathed in are all jumbled up in our hearts and to make sense of most of it will take some time. I know from the last couple of trips over there, things surface when we least expect it. A certain amount of strength is required to work with these little broken vessels. There is a tenacity of heart we call upon in this experience and when we are able to fully let down in the silence of coming home, things bubble up that were held back during the time there. Not sure if that makes a lot of sense to you, but it does to me. If you have served somewhere that suffering occurs, you may know what I am talking about.

Coming home reveals a tender heart. The soil of our souls has been plowed by love and the seedlings are in a fragile state. We experienced a bit of heaven on earth and want to hold it close and savor it a little longer.

I will be posting pictures on facebook this week so stay tuned for more to come.

Thanks for loving us and caring about the work done there.

Lions, Rhino's And Giraffes, Oh My!

This weekend was not what I expected. We woke up for an early breakfast on Saturday and went through orientation for the week. I led a 'devotion' on "Being In The Moment" and then we had some of our team members play songs that got our hearts centered for the day.
Since only a smaller portion of the team was here early, we were able to go on a Safari. I have never experienced anything like it and highly recommend it to anyone traveling to Africa.
We rode out in Jeeps that were fully open, meaning any animal could walk up to us and 'get friendly' if they wanted to. This created a sense of risk as we drove on dirt roads throughout this reserve full of 'bush'. I never realized how well animals could camoflauge themselves because on Discovery or any of those shows, the animals seem to stand out a bit from the grass. Not here. We found a lion that had just killed a Wildebeast and was feasting happily on his prey. That was when we realized we had a tire leak, so we drove to a different section and waited in the Jeep as our driver changed the tire. He told us to keep watch on the 'bush' in case a lion shows up. Something seemed very wrong with this scenario - but he quickly got to work as we watched for movement in the grass. Nothing, we were good. We drove around and found a large Bull elephant who seemed to be ok with all of us driving up to take a look. We went back to the lion area and saw the same lion still working on his meal. He was fairly hidden so there wasn't an opportunity to get a good look at him, so our driver decided to go off of the road and see how close he could get. This is where my heart rate increased and a sense of fear began to creep in. He got within 15 feet of a wild, unpredictable, flesh-eating lion and we were in the front. So that meant that we would be the first to go if the lion decided to check us out. I began to think of all the people in my life and if I told them I loved them. The lion wasn't too interested in us, thankfully, and we went on our way.
We saw rhino's and giraffe and various deer as well as baby elephants with their mom's (cow's) as they are called. It was an incredible adventure and we are so glad we went.

Today, we went to an African church and experienced worship. It was so great to be connected with our brothers and sisters here and feel so welcome in their community. They sing with alot of passion and joy. We had youth from Taiwan with us and they even loved it.

Later, we ventured out to the new land that Heart For Africa was able to purchase. 2500 acres on a mountain. It was breathtaking and I look forward to seeing what the future holds as this land is developed. The plan they showed us is quite amazing and we are very excited for this project.

We spent the afternoon in the local market and had a lot of fun mingling with the people that live here. Tomorrow we set off to work in the children's homes and do what we came here for. It is going to be an awesome week and our team is 141 strong. A lot will be accomplished in the homes this week and we are ready to serve. We are mostly excited because we get to see our sponsor child, Elizabeth!!! To actually spend the week with her is a dream come true for me. I am so glad to share who she is with Matthias and hopefully one day, Grace and Ben as well.

Matthias has the African bug. I had no idea how he would respond to this environment and now he is already sad that we will be leaving in a week. I don't blame him. If I could send for my other two children, I would do it in a heartbeat. This place feels like home to me, it did the first time I came and that has not changed. Don't worry, we are coming back to Oregon however I do believe that my future and the lives of my children will include summers in Swaziland.

Blessings to all and we are so glad to share our journey with you.
Stay tuned...

Touchdown Johannesburg - South Africa

After many hours of flying across the globe we have landed and made it into Swaziland tonight. We are 9 hours ahead and our body clocks are totally messed up. We know it's 2pm at home and here in Africa it is 11pm. Sleep awaits me, so this will be short.

We had an incredible flight and met up with part of the team in NY. 50 people arrived today and another 100 are coming in on various flights tonight. They will join us tomorrow. I have not experienced such a large group but when you break it all down into smaller numbers, it works.

We will be going on a Wild Game adventure tomorrow and are excited to see some other parts of this beautiful country as well as the "Big Five" as they are known for down here. That would be the lion, giraffe, rhino, zebra and elephant. Something like that, anyway - we are looking forward to it.

You will have to forgive me as my brain is quite rummy and my eyes want to cross as I type!

We have great access to the internet and will be posting things each day so come back if you are curious and see what we have going on while we are here!

Our bus was having mechanical issues on the drive from South Africa into Swaziland and it was great to sit on the side of the road and observe life. Cows crossing the road, people waiting for a taxi, children carrying water jugs and playing in their yards of dirt. We saw a woman carrying her large bag of oranges on her head with little to no effort, it was so natural. We saw Impala's and monkeys hanging around the highway we were on and the team kept a positive attitude through the now 7 hour bus ride to where we are staying.

All is well, we are thrilled to be a part of this team and to see what unfolds as the days progress.
Thanks for checking in on our travels and we look forward to some great stories and moments we will share along the way!