Advent Resources

I love putting great resources in your hands for advent- how to make the season meaningful and missional!  Today you have the awesome opportunity to buy Truth in the Tinsel for only $2.99! 

Want to start teaching your children about the true meaning of Christmas? Amanda at impressyourkids.org has written Truth in the Tinsel; an advent devotional that teaches the main characters of the Christmas story, using age-appropriate lessons and a creative craft ornament to make with your child!  Decorate your tree with the true meaning of Christmas this year! Because aren't our kids our first mission??

Ann Dunagan, author of The Mission-Minded Family, has a series of Christmas posts with lots of great ideas for making this Christmas more missional! 

Ann Voskamp's Jesse Tree devotional from last year- looking forward to doing it again this year with my boys!  And this post- Who's birthday is it really?  A must read.

And I love this post on how to have a radical Christmas!  

Advent begins next week!  How are you preparing?  How will you give the love of Christ this Christmas?

Old rags...

Thrown in a dungeon.  Sinking in mire.  Without water or food.  Suddenly, old rags are lowered down to you in your misery.  Hallelujah for old rags!  I can just picture Jeremiah, how grateful he must have been for those old rags that became his salvation. 

These have been full days- full of ministry, glory, highlights.  But the in-between days have been a blur.  I've faltered in my gift-listing. Blazing through each day,  I've grabbed at highlights for my Monday posts.  And missed the small moments- the real eucharisteo- living attentive, being all here, giving thanks for each moment, good or bad, as gifts from His hand.

I can swipe broad thanks across my life- but that doesn't change me.  I can gather round the table this Thanksgiving and share what I am thankful for- but it isn't transformational.

"But in this counting gifts, to one thousand, more, I discover that slapping a sloppy brush of thanksgiving over everything in my life leaves me deeply thankful for very few things in my life... I testify: life-changing gratitude does not fasten to a life unless nailed through with one very specific nail at a time." -Ann Voskamp

You'd think that after all this time, two years of gift-listing, that I would just breathe gratitude, without having to list it.  But I can't.  It's in the naming, the writing, the nailing thanks to a page, that I am changed.  I'm picking up pen and camera again to start hammering gratitude back into my life.

Grateful for these old rags, that just might be my salvation:

#5108.  "We've never had lunch in a storm before" -Seth
#5109.  Some shelter from the rain.
#5110.  The only time it rained on retreat.

#5111.  Safety on our journey home.
#5112.  Not being the driver in this weather
#5113.  Boys getting good naps on the drive home.

#5114.  African men cooking, laughing, lounging, challenging, learning. true fellowship.
#5115.  ants in my kitchen, because we have food to eat.
#5116.  the aroma, and color of fresh food. even though flies like them too.

#5117.  toys spilled all over the floor- evidence of life
#5118.  boys bickering- we are blessed with boys.
#5119.  Tim and Ben- we have family in Uganda!
#5120.  babysitting the nephews for two nights- Scott and Meg will reciprocate in December :)

#5121.  heaps of dirty laundry. we have clothes to wear.
#5122.  a washer and dryer in Uganda.
#5123.  yellow sweatpants :)

#5124.  in the midst of the mire, there shines beauty, if I will pause and receive it.
#5125.  the sun rises every day.
#5126.  You "paint the morning skies with miracles in mind"
#5127.  I get to live this life in Africa.  Sunrise over Lake Victoria, really?  amazing.



"And in the dungeon there was no water, but mire.  So Jeremiah sank in the mire... Ebed-Melech took from there old clothes and old rags, and let them down by ropes into the dungeon to Jeremiah... So they pulled Jeremiah up with ropes (and old rags) and lifted him out of the dungeon." -Jeremiah 38:6, 11, 13

Time to Celebrate!

What a week!  Our hearts (and our home) are full to overflowing!  The table has been set, food simmering on the stove, cookies baking in the oven, rooms prepared, floors swept.  The halls ring with  laughter & chatter, playing & praying.  And that's just how I like it.

Guests from around the world arrived last week- President of WGM Hubert Harriman, and VP Tim Rickel, evangelists David Harriman and Dr Luis from Guatemala, Bishop of Africa Gospel Church Kenya, Reverend Dr Lang'at, other representatives from Kenya, Scott and Meg and their boys, and more!  Our bedrooms are full, the table is full, and our fridge is empty!  Filled up and poured out for the kingdom.  What a gift!

Will you rejoice with us in the long-awaited answer to prayer of missionaries here in Uganda?  Since 1999 Jonathan Mayo (Country Director, Uganda) has been praying for the day when the national church, Africa Gospel Church, Uganda, could sustain itself.  And Saturday, the very first Bishop of AGC Uganda was installed!  Hallelujah!  What a joyous celebration!  Africans know how to party!



continuing to count the many ways He smiles on our days:

• the irrepressible joy glow
• african moves
• wide smiles, beautiful dresses, women of God clothed in strength and dignity.

•  this day. a passing of the baton of faith.
• the very first Bishop of Africa Gospel Church, Uganda!
• Bishop Masiga and his beautiful wife
• traditional Ugandan gomesi
• Your Body- gathered from around the world to celebrate with the Ugandan church!

• pumpkin pie for breakfast :)
• happy boys
• friends who babysat for us, so these little guys didn't have to come to the all day service

• this home, with open doors
• men and women gathering to share 
• more than enough food
• sweet time of prayer with some leaders from World Gospel Mission HQ

growing little men

some days it's easier, some days it's harder.  this task of parenting two small boys.  stomping feet.  attitudes.  rolling eyes.  no, they're not sixteen.  yet.

the days of diapers and night-time feedings are past.  those days were exhausting.  these days are taxing.  it's not enough that we are all fed, dressed and alive.  no, it's much more than that- we have to be sure we're shaping souls for the kingdom.

and i am grateful that the One (who first was Father) is by my side.  He is the one who teaches me, and His word is what instructs me on this parenting journey.

so, some things i am thankful for on this Monday-

-- a playground at the hotel just down the road
-- a Sabbath afternoon out with my boys
-- smiles in the sunshine
-- curious Ugandan kids

-- silly faces to pass the time
-- crazy giggles

-- this beautiful culture
-- rhythm. drums. flutes.
-- dancing. life. color.

-- best brothers
-- cheesy smiles
-- only 19 months apart

-- You, Father, my guide on this journey
-- Your promise to me and to my boys- "Obey My voice and I will be your God, and you shall be My people, and walk in all the ways I have commanded you, that it may be well with you." -Jeremiah 7:23
-- Your goal for these boys: "that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work." -2 Timothy 3:17
-- my prayer:  "let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord..." -Jeremiah 9:24 may they glory in the knowledge of You- and really know You!
-- my privilege: to labor with You in the shaping of their souls.