jeremiah 17:7-8

i am a tree

my roots go deep

by the water.

branches full

leaves are green

its never autumn.

'so sweet'

enter the worship circle,

chair and microphone

the sheep of His pasture.

i love these kids, our sweet VC kids.

i love that the Father has entrusted us with these beautiful children. 'the least and the looked over,' most would call them. but they are His special ones. 'the vulnerable and the oppressed,' most say. but they are His royal children made for greatness. they are the sheep of his pasture. and he has entrusted them to us. it truly is an honor.

during one of our weekly kids club gatherings a month or so ago, i began to feel a bit discouraged thinking, 'what are we even doing? are we making a difference at all in their lives?'

i felt the Father answer me immediately...

"YES. take heart. i have set these kids apart to grow up in my care." he gave me a picture of a flock of sheep, safely dwelling in the Shepherd's pen. i felt the Lord encouraging me that these kids have been chosen and set apart. we are laying foundations and sowing good seeds that will shape their lives. we are surrounding them with love, care, prayer and truth. we are defending the cause of these orphans and abandoned ones. and they are being protected by the Good Shepherd. they are being lifted up and made radiant by the King of Kings.

praise the LORD, oh my soul! so thankful for the Father's heart for these little ones, His royal children, and that he has trusted me to love and care for them.

GLORY.

"and the glory of the Lord rises upon you." isaiah 60:1

i am constantly surrounded by the beauty of nature here in cape town. there are moments where i am completely overwhelmed by it. i was walking on the beach one morning as the sun was rising, causing a vibrant display of clouds over the mountains. truly the glory of the Lord was being displayed. i kept thinking i was made for the glory of the Lord! but then i felt the Lord say to me that nature is wonderful and it was created by him to display his majesty and splendor...but that the crowning piece of creation was when he made man...in his image. it hit me that there is nothing more GLORIOUS than watching the redemption of the Lord working in a person's life. witnessing the Creator restore and redeem and "transforming our lowly bodies that it may be conformed to His glorious body!" philippians 3:21. seeing lives of emptiness, brokenness and shame being filled with HIS glory!

now THAT is what i was made for! i was made to see the glory of the Lord rise upon his people!

The epic tale of a miraculously functioning computer.

i believe in miracles. even ones that involve electronics.

april 18th began just like any other monday. i arrived at the all nations office early, made myself some coffee and sat down at my laptop to get some work done. i reached for my coffee, and before i knew it, i had dropped the mug leaving a pool of coffee on my (fairly new) computer that i had saved foreverrr for. eeeeek! i immediately grabbed my computer, poured the liquid off and (thanks to my friend bowen who knows much about computers) i turned the power off.

my friend, bowen, quickly ran home, grabbed his computer tools, and began taking my computer a part.

about an hour later, my computer was COMPLETELY taken a part and placed in a bucket of rice to soak up the liquid. and that is where it sat for the next three days. the amazing part of the whole experience is i just had such a confidence in my heart that it would all be okay. my motto for the whole process was "I will not be intimidated!" i chose from the first few minutes to not give into being overwhelmed by this unfortunate event, but to choose peace and joy! the very thing the enemy wants in times of hardship, trouble or misfortune is for us to give into despair, sadness, self pity, fear...but what is the Father saying in these times?

"take courage my beloved! for I work all things for your good; I am with you and nothing is impossible for me...if you just have a little faith! "

so that is just what i did. i decided to have faith in the One who is so worthy of my trust!

after the third day (which just so happened to be Good Friday!) my computer was reassembled and, alas, it actually turned on!!! wow. i was overjoyed! there was only a few things that weren't working, the biggest things being the space bar and the delete key. BUT soon bowen had figured out how to pull up a keyboard on the screen. "i will not be intimidated!" i rejoiced in the victory!

SADLY, a day later my computer shut off only to stay shut off :( it would begin to start up and then just die. oh man. but truly, i did not feel discouraged. even though everything was telling me that this is the end of the computer, i felt in my heart that the fight wasn't over.

my computer then sat dead for about a month in my room. bowen decided that he would try and get my hard drive off my computer so i could at least recover all my documents and pictures. he discovered in that process that my computer actually would turn on!!!! but here is the catch: if you do not move the mouse every 8 seconds the computer will shut off! yikes! BUT hey thats a small problem compared to it being completely dead! i was once again overjoyed! AND not only that but the space bar and delete keys NOW worked! oh my goodness..."i will NOT be intimidated!"

after about two weeks of moving the mouse constantly...i was beginning to form a twitch :) i then discovered that if you just hold your hand on the mousepad it will stay on...which led to me discovering that if you put something heavy on the mouse pad, it will hold it down and keep the computer on! (hence the stapler.) WOW. victory after victory!

auntie pat, who works in the all nations office, gave me this beautiful rock, that i have lovingly named the 'rock of contentment' (i have NO idea why, but it is a name that has stuck with me and amy.) at that is the end of this epic tale!

**note: as i wrote this blog post i turned away for a minute (well about 9 seconds to be exact) only to find that my computer had shut off, losing this post that i had not yet saved. arrrg. there are many moments of frustration because of the after effects of that devastating coffee spill. however, each time I remember to stop my grumbling and rejoice for the fact that i have a functioning computer! it truly is a miracle and i am choosing to celebrate every victory the Lord gives!

God is a Redeemer!

God is a Redeemer.

Two weeks ago, I had the privilege of spending the weekend with ten beautiful 15 and 16 year old girls. A few months ago, two members of the Ocean View CPx outreach team, went to the principal of the Ocean View High School and asked him to give them the ten roughest, most troubled girls in the school. The principal happily agreed and they began meeting once a week after school. It did not take the team members long to see that these girls were not “trouble makers” but treasures waiting to be discovered. So they decided to have a camp just for them. A weekend dedicated to loving them and speaking truth into their lives. These girls have seen the harshness of the world. Most are addicted to drugs. Many are involved with gangs and have been abused by family members and boyfriends. These girls come from broken families and cycles of addiction and violence. They don’t have people in their lives telling them what they are really worth. No one is telling them they were made for greatness. No one is believing in them. So we did. Each girl had their own “big sister” for the weekend. It took me about 10 minutes with these girls to absolutely fall in love with them. It was a joy to get to know them and to share a cabin with them. It was so fun to watch them get the chance to simply be teenagers. I loved laying in bed at night listening to them talking and laughing, while eating junk food and listening to music. They told us that this was the first time in a long, long time that they were going to bed sober on a Friday night. wow. But most of all it was a privilege to witness the beauty of their hearts. They shared so much with us. Throughout the weekend we had different “sessions.” The first was about self worth and true identity. Another was about the truth behind a life of drugs, gangs and sex, giving them the hard facts. Another session was dedicated to encouraging them to dream for their futures. And for the last session they brought in women (from the girls' very own community) who have risen above lives of addiction, teen pregnancy and gang involvement, and are now living beautifully redeemed lives because of Jesus! wow. After each session, we would have one-on-one time with our “little sisters.” There were many tears, as they began realizing who they were made to be and the Love and greatness they were created for. After one session, my "little sis" shared with me all about her struggles and some deep secrets of some bad things that have happened to her. She told me that she really did want to leave her life of drugs, but that she didn't know how. “I believe in you.” Such a simple phrase for most, but ground shaking in her life. Tears filled both of our eyes as she began dreaming of a life of freedom and hope. Afterwards, just before she went running off to play volleyball with her friends, she told me that she felt free and happy! She said it felt like a heavy thing was lifted off her heart. wow. What a pleasure to be able to experience the Redeemer working miracles in these young girls lives and to be able to witness the furious love of God begin transforming in their lives. Bit by bit, these girls are finding freedom and life. Why? Because the Lover of their souls delights in them and is pursuing them. He has destined them for greatness and believes in them wholeheartedly. I am thankful that I got to spend a weekend with these girls and catch a glimpse into his heart for them.