Have you ever prayed so hard your head hurt? 

  Have you ever cheered so hard for your favorite team that it did?

Have you ever had such an in depth conversation with God you almost drove off the road?

 Have you ever with your best friend?

Have you ever been so excited about going to church that you couldn't sleep the night before?

  What about vacation?

Have you ever started your day asking, "God, where will I find you today?"

  Have you ever started your day with a list of groceries or shopping items to find?

How many of God's verses do you have memorized?

  How many phone numbers, copier code numbers, car security entry numbers, addresses?

Dear Lord...might you be FIRST...always, everywhere, and in every part of my day!

Kobe D...

Check out what my 11 year old son, Kobe, has initiated all on his own...

Hoopin for a Hoop

And today in Sunday school they had to write something they wanted to shout to all people. His words were:

"I want others to realize how poor some people in the world are, even without an earthquake or other event!"

WOW....God is so good!!!

Jen

An amazing girl...

I just have to share these touching words, written by my friend's daughter. Tina and Paul adopted Emily from Sierra Leone when she was just nine years old. Today she is a flourishing, smart, amazing teenager. She will be sharing her story with us on Monday night (7:00 p.m.) at First Family Church in Ankeny and again at ISU on Tuesday at 11:00 a.m.  Join us if you can! You will be challenged, motivated and encouraged!!

Emily's words:

I was born in 1995 during the war of Sierra Leone and I was given the name Fatmata Kamara. When I was little, I had no idea about the war. I was so happy living in the village of Tombo with my family. Every night when the moon was shinning, my friends and I would take a drum and go to the big wide open field. We’d play, goof around, dance and sing. Every now and then we would go fishing with our bare hands and swim until it was time for dinner. My mom always made my favorite dish, cassava leaf. I remember my mama would always give me piggy back rides and I loved her so much.



Then came the rebels. We ran away so many times. One day I was in my aunt’s home playing with my cousins when my aunt came in yelling for us to run. I was in a daze and I had no idea what was going on. The next thing I can remember is we were being rushed out of our home into the jungle. As we were running, I heard the gun shots behind us and then I knew the rebels were coming closer. We hid in the jungle behind some brush in the middle of a swamp. I remember holding my breath under the muddy water as the rebels passed by. After a few days, we went back to our village and found everything to be burned down and gone. The war got really bad after that and my parents sent us to live with our grandmother. So my older sister, my older brother and I took a boat to an island called Shenge to stay with my grandmother.


When the war was over in 2002, I was 7 years old and I started to get really sick.


My parents had 12 children and 9 of them had already died.


They thought I was going to die too and they couldn’t take care of me. That was when my parents made the decision to give me up to save me…I moved to an orphanage when I was 8 years old.

Emily holding Lucy during one of her return visits to Sierra Leone!

Look to the Hills

 "I lift up my eyes to the hills—where does my help come from?
My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth."

Psalm 121:1-2

Look beyond!

Just take a moment and lift your eyes up to the sky.
Look beyond your current situation. Look beyond the doctor's diagnosis. Look beyond the checkbook balance. Look beyond the obstacles getting in the way.

Look Beyond!

Look to the hills...to your Lord! That is where our help comes from. That is where our provision lies. That is where our faith rests.

I may not have the money in my bank account to save every orphan in Africa, but God does!
I may not have the answer to the cancer, but God does!
I may not have the means to change a person's unforgiving heart, but God does!

God does!

Looking to the hills today!

How do you know?

How do you know when you are to step back and when you are to step forward?

I know...prayer..

But...what if God is not making it clear? What if you are praying and it just isn't clear?

What if one part of you is saying, "no, be still"  but the other part of you is saying, "Go"?  

What if you don't see the way, you don't see how it is possible, you don't have the resources, BUT every single portion of every single part of your body and soul and heart are telling you ,"JUST TRUST ME and GO!" 

What then?

What do you do...

step out in faith?

or stay back and remain still? 

We welcome you

We welcome you in Jesus name. 

With our heart and mouth we confess that we love you all!

This is just the coolest picture to me. It was on the blackboard at The Covering orphanage when I was there. The children enter the classroom being immediately reminded that EVERYTHING comes to them through Christ! He is first...even the WELCOME to their room is through HIM! 

Can't you just imagine these words coming from the angels of the Lord at the gates of heaven? Can't you just see them standing there, arms open, singing the most beautiful music and saying, "We welcome you in Jesus name!"  

Because you see, you can not enter without Jesus. He must be in you. He must know you personally. He is the entrance ticket!  So they sing, 

"We welcome you in Jesus name!"

I am really missing Sierra Leone today. I am preparing my heart for our talk on Monday night at First Family Church in Ankeny and then on Tuesday at ISU. God is tugging again. God is not letting my heart grow complacent. He is reminding me that He is in charge. That He starts my every day. That my welcome is only through His son!

Dear Lord...guide my steps. Help me to know exactly the steps you want me to take. Provide the resources Lord.  Give me wisdom.