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Our history cycle this year marches through the Middle Ages, starting with the fall of Rome and ending with the Reformation. The rise of Islam, Vikings, Monks copying the Bible, stained glass windows, castles, knights and peasant life have invaded our living room and art gallery. To accompany what we do at home, the home school co-op we're apart of memorizes a history sentence each week that takes place during this time period. One week the sentence told the story of William the Conqueror defeating King Harold and the beginning of feudalism. The kids loved memorizing this with the help of a catchy tune, although they didn't know the background to the story yet. One rainy morning we read our history together nestled in a "tent" in the boy's room. I read about how this man named William and this other man named Harold were fighting for the English crown. Both felt they should rightly inherit the throne and no one was backing down without a fight. Not til the very end did the story say "William the Conqueror" and "King Harold". At the moment of realization, the kids popped up from under the covers with a light bulb going off in their head and all started singing the history sentence in unison! It was a hilarious sight!

I shared a similar enthusiasm of connecting the dots as I was preparing what to say in Africa. How was I to share anything beneficial to a group of ladies I neither knew nor understood? I realized that it would only come from the Holy Spirit. This would not come from ME. These ladies would teach me far more than any nugget of wisdom I may bring. As I prayed and sat quietly before the Lord, asking Him to reveal what message He had for me to bring, His words began flooding my heart and pouring onto the paper in front of me. I cannot share the entire message, however one passage of scripture and biblical truth still rings in my ears and stirs my heart today. A message that never grows old, although it dates back to a tiny Old Testament book.

Adam went to Africa to build. Build. We're all building something. Either we're building or we're allowing to tear down by natural erosion. Have you ever paralleled building a physical structure to building a spiritual structure? Proverbs 14:1 says, "The wise woman builds her house but with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down." Building... Matthew 7:24-27 gives us another look into some wise and foolish builders. But my new favorite, a jewel that God showed me is in the Old Testament Minor Prophet book of Haggai. Haggai 1:1-11 spoke so loudly and clearly to me that I couldn't wait to share this treasure with the ladies on the other side of the world. Have you ever felt like you worked and worked and tried your absolute hardest to do something only to feel as if you were putting that prized possession into a bag with holes in it? Or to work and have it all blow away like a dandelion seed? The Lord says, do you want to know why? Verse 9 says, "Because of my house which remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with his own house." OH. We don't have to be living in luxury for this to apply to us. Where is the temple now? In each of us who call on the name of the Lord as our Savior. God wants us focused on building His house, not our own. He wants to me my Provider.

The Books of Genesis-Revelation hold the most important information for our everyday living. We can read them as eagerly as an old love note, for that is what they are. Come to God as a child, even as one who's memorized John 3:16 or any other verse. Open the pages, read the background story and watch how your spirit comes alive, just as my kids did when what they memorized came full circle and made since.  If a history book can do that, God's Word can do it bigger!

Yarn and the Yearning

When I turned 5 years old a sweet friend of my mom gave me a tadpole for my birthday. It was a special mail order kind, so I received a tadpole in the mailbox. I aptly named him Timmy and enjoyed watching him tun into a frog. He lived in a small aquarium perched atop my bathroom counter. Since I am an only child I talked regularly with Timmy and we shared many life events together. He died when I was 24!

So when Caleb turned 5, (Timmy had only been gone a few years) I wanted to pass along the experience. At Christmas, Santa left a tadpole for my kids to love and watch transform. This they did and after a few years  I was told Gilly needed a friend. So again, Santa left behind another another tadpole gift. When this one arrived, the kids chose the name Caspian after their favorite series at the time "The Chronicles of Narnia". Caspian was so cute and tiny compared to our larger frog.  Zach found it most interesting to watch him grow and announced regularly his growth progress. One evening as we were heading to bed, Zach (3) runs in our room full of excitement and expressively says, "Mom, Caspian is a frog! I'm serious. He made hisself into a FROG!"

One week ago, Adam and I stepped off a plane that took us all the way to Africa - and home again. The way that journey began and how God confirmed that we were both to go this year reminds me a lot of that story. Adam has been to Africa for 3 years now. Last year when he got home I said "You're not going by yourself again! If you go, I'm going too." So all year we planned to go together. However, when the trip was put together it was too long and more expensive than we thought-or could afford. So with a heavy heart we had to make the call that this year wasn't for us to go. Not long after that, we got news that the trip had been shortened to only being out one full work week, and the prices lowered after going with a different airline and fight plan. So we prayed about it again. The deadline came to purchase the tickets and we still did not have the money for it. We fully believed that if we were to go this year, God would provide the funds needed for the ticket in time.

We were not going to presume, so wholeheartedly prayed that God would show us. The next morning, the money was provided for us! As the tickets were purchased, Adam and I looked at each other and said, "We're going to Africa together! I'm serious, we really are. God provided a way!" God poured in enough financial support to meet every need on this trip - to the amazement of the whole team, we watched as He truly fashioned this group who went. Some who have never taught stepped up to teach pastors at the Pastor's conference; truly committing to do what''s uncomfortable.

For myself the task now focused on what do I speak about? I will have 3 one hour sessions covering marriage and family to a group of ladies I've never met, and in a country I've never been to. A peace followed that moment of anxiety when I realized the Lord I worship here, is the same in Africa. He doesn't change just because I cross state lines or American soil. He doesn't need a passport. He is God HERE and He is God THERE. The I AM that I AM.

So on that foundation I began to pray for the women I would meet and for God to give me His words to speak to them that would connect and apply to them, where they are. Let me say, the Lord is faithful! He supplied me with words, enabled me to speak those words and I believe they fell on hungry ears and hearts. I felt so inadequate and humbled to stand before them and speak anything because they were teaching me so much. Watching them pick up crocheting so easily and taking the basic single stitch we showed them and turning it into bags, hats, table runners, booties - was proof again how God takes what we give to Him and He produces far more than we fathom possible. The ladies were all so tremendously blessed to have a skein of yarn to call their own, a blessing made possible by the abundant provisions of God through friends here.

It's in those "Caspian's a frog!" moments in life we see a tiny glimpse of God's magnitude. It leaves us speechless and breathless.