Where two or three are gathered...

after my baptism in the Indian Ocean

these are my people.

what started out 15 years ago today (cannot believe it's our 15th anniversary!)... has blossomed into this: husband and wife, two boys, and two girls in Africa with Jesus. love spilling over and bringing life. and I am so grateful.

it's what He does- it's who He is. God is love. and love seeks an object- before the foundations of the world He was living in love Himself- Father, Son and Holy Spirit in a beautiful dance of community and love- He didn't need us- just like I didn't need my children- but our love grew so big that we wanted more people to share it with- likewise He is longing for all to receive what He so generously and lavishly wants to pour out.

WGM believes that transformed people will transform their communities who will transform the world. that from my intimate, abiding relationship with God my heart would overflow to those around me. that as He transforms me more and more into His likeness, putting to death the works of flesh and walking in the Spirit, I will live and love like He does. and that God incarnate, Jesus Himself in me, would be drawing people to Himself.

Mansi and the girls

and so our family mission is to live and love each other, and welcome people into that love often. so we live with open doors and an extra place at the table. my girls ask almost everyday- "so, who's coming to dinner tonight?".

we also love to host house guests! it has been sweet gift to have Mansi live with us the past four months and it will be sad to see her go tomorrow. our kids have loved her, their unofficial "big sister", and it's been good to have another adult in the house to pray and process life with. fresh eyes, after living here for 8+ years, are always welcome.

prayer warriors at Azmera Retreat

this Christmas we will be posting daily to give you a more extensive update than a year end email could contain. He began the transformation in me this year- a deep surrender that allowed Him to fill me with His Spirit of love and power to live a holy life. You can read more about that here. and as He came and filled me to overflowing at an Azmera Haven Retreat, then He spilled over into our marriage, our family, our home fellowship, our community at Heritage and our WGM Uganda team. Stay tuned for more stories! it's been a good year. and 2020 will only get better!

When we bump up against our limits

Pouring out:
Serving communion at
Elementary School
Spiritual Emphasis Week

On Wednesday I preached at Middle and High School chapels about abiding... about how much power and freedom there is when we abide... about the beauty and the peace that come when we stop striving and rest in what He has already accomplished {which is everything}... and then there was Thursday.

I've come to realize I'm not a short fuse person- I have a very long fuse... however, once you reach the end: look out. I can be patient and obliging for a long time. I have heaps of grace and appreciation for this very different culture I live in. Until I don't. When I just want my babies to see the doctor {at the time they told me to come in} or get their cavity filled or have a date lunch with my husband and everything conspires against me. Or so it feels. I know this is a bit dramatic. But yesterday it felt dramatic.

Our weekly routine has shifted now that I'm working part-time at our kids' school. And I am around more people more often than I was our last term. And I feel the need to be much more intentional with my kids when I am home. These realities may be slowly draining my very friendly, introverted self.

And yet. He is keeping me... when I let Him. There are days when you know much will be demanded of you- when you are pouring and pouring- and you take the time you need for Him to fill you. But then there are days like Thursday when things don't seem like a big deal, and then the little one is up at 4:59am, and you just don't get that time. And all morning you find yourself bumping up against your humanity and your self and your limits. Empty.

It's not pretty. But the discovery of who I am when left to my own devices throws me on His grace. Seeing my self in all its selfish, impatient, angry blaze humbles me. And John 15 comes flooding back like conviction and hope mixed together: "apart from Me you can do nothing" {John 15:5} which then means "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength."{Philippians 4:13}.

Studying the Enneagram, we can "learn how to recognize and dis-identify with the parts of our personalities that limit us so we can be reunited with our truest and best selves, that 'pure diamond, blazing with the invisible light of heaven,' as Thomas Merton said.

That's the blaze I want glowing within me. And I can only get there when I abide in Him, and allow Him to shine His light on those broken and fallen places within me.

linking up today at the Grove @Velvet Ashes:

Kept By the Spirit

In July we were not quite sure what kind of team we would be walking back into this term. After some serious team upheaval, and our own personal burnout, we were cautiously hopeful that the team had recovered as much as we had during our time in the states. But regardless of the state of our team, Jesus had some good words for us as we thought about rejoining them.

• This is His team. We get to partner with them and Him for His purposes. He cares for them more than we ever will. 
• This team isn't any different than any other team- we have had struggles and will continue to face challenges because we are human. We will never find the perfect team. There is power in staying.
• There is power for staying! This team has access to the same power that raised Jesus from the dead- nothing is impossible for Him.
• Team is His idea. The Trinity communes together and works together and loves together in perfect harmony. We have God as our model and as our strength to do team life in way that brings Him glory. 

During this first month back on the field we are grateful for the ways Jesus has met our team in these hard days.

Team life is seldom easy- but He promises to keep us.

It could have been a very different re-entry for us, but the Spirit has heard our prayers and kept our team. He has kept us meeting together for prayer. He has kept us well enough to continue ministering where He has placed us. He has kept us together in spirit- even when we are separated by continents.

For our team book study we are diving into Emotionally Healthy Spirituality. Maybe your team wants to too?

I'm linking up at the Grove today at Velvet Ashes.

Spur One Another On

^"And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching." -Hebrews 10:24-25

Comparing. Competition. Discontent. Pride. Jealousy. These are a few of the dangers of life in community. As a team we have been wrestling with these issues and God is beginning to bring light and freedom and health. We are so grateful. We have a long road ahead, as teammates come and go. But we are doing the work- and the Spirit is honored. 

Whether you are a missionary on a team, a member of a church, a supporter of a missionary, a part of a family, or just person who has friends- the threats of comparison and competition are real. So what can we do about it? A few steps we are taking as a team:

• Share someone else's successes or victories- at prayer meeting let someone else tell about your most recent God-story. You will be encouraged and there is no temptation to brag. God gets all the glory.
• Encourage one another. 
• Serve together. Even if you are involved in very different ministries- take time to invite someone else to join you on a project. They get to see the nitty-gritty details, failures and successes, and you get support!
• Celebrate together.
• Focus on who God is- everything else will be put in proper perspective.

How do you fight the temptation to compete?

Community: The beautiful, the ugly, and the yet to be...

Play Group: August 2014

Wow! We are seven months in.

We are only seven months in.

This is a marathon, not a sprint. It's a four-year term. There have been some sweet moments of community-like this play group (but it sadly falls right in the midst of morning nap), and my Bible study ladies, our mentor sessions with the Metz's and my coffee dates with Abbey. And there have been some disappointments, the not quite clicking, the friends already preparing to leave, etc. This expat community stuff is not for the weak.

Or maybe weak is exactly what I need to be... humility and serving one another in love are two crucial components of community. I not only need to give, but receive. It was so beautifully said in this post:

"Community is not found- it is built, one brick of love at a time."

And the other beautiful thing is that God is still here. He is drawing me closer to His heart, refining me in this hard season, and allowing me to yearn for that glorious Someday. Someday there will be no more tears, no more goodbyes... and until then, we can love fiercely the ones He has placed in front of us. I don't want to quit engaging just because it's hard. He has brought dear friends into my life in the past, and He will do it again.

I don't know about you, but I want to know and be known, and so I'll build, one love brick at a time.

{linking up at the Grove: Community}

And so inspired by these posts:

6 People that Kill Community (oh, I'm guilty of playing a couple of these roles)
Cracks in Community
Love Like a Gangster