Another whirlwind

8 days ago I decided that I would go with the next team to Liberia.

4 days ago I got my tickets. And my shots. And my visa.

10 days from now I'll be on the plane.

17 days later I'll return.

The River of Grace has been working with an orphanage in Liberia for almost 4 years now. In that time, we've shipped containers with donations, sent teams and individuals (including Liberian ROG members), arranged for local agricultural experts to help start a large garden and teach the orphanage staff how to maintain it... and so much more.

During this trip, we'll be working on finishing the building of a school and church on the orphanage grounds. We also hope to build a chicken farm so that the children can have another food source. I'll be working with a Liberian ROG sister to help the orphanage leaders define policies and expectations for the orphanage, school, caretakers, and teachers. And, of course, we'll be loving on the kids as much as possible.

Where AM I?

We got a zoo? The circus is in town? State Fair? The Gobi Desert?

You know that feeling you get sometimes when you wake up in a strange place and you have a moment of panic as your brain tries to figure out where you are? I had a moment like that today. While driving.

As I was driving to work today, I saw a sight that I have never seen here. And it was strange enough to completely confuse me. And make me laugh hysterically.

There, crossing the road in front of my van was a little motorcycle with a wagon on the back (not unusual). But behind the wagon was this:

That is, of course, not the actual camel that was crossing in front of my van. I wish I'd had my camera at the time, but then again I was driving. Probably wouldn't have gotten a picture even if I'd had my camera...driving and picture taking is generally not advisable. Especially here. However, this picture was taken in China and I know I've seen those double-helix lights before...maybe this is the camel I saw?!

Yeah. I saw a Bactrian camel tethered to a motorcycle wagon and crossing the street. And of course I had to blog about it because otherwise I will never believe that I saw it! After I regained my orientation and realized where I was, my brain started thinking logically again. My first thought: "maybe it's going to a restaurant to be eaten...I wonder where the restaurant is, I've never had camel before."

Yes, that's the kind of logical thought one has after living overseas for a while.

Winter...

Dear Winter,

We need to talk. We've known each other for a long time now. Being born and raised in the Frozen Tundra, you've practically ruled my life. And let's face it, I've got Scandinavian blood so I should love you. But you've become a little extreme and possessive over the years...cutting into Fall and Spring's precious time in my life.

Don't get me wrong, I love some of what you bring. I love the snow. I love those occasional late-October snowfalls. I even love the occasional early-May ones. And I love all the snowfalls in between. I love curling up with blankets when you're around. I also love all the great hot drinks that are best when you're here. And I love Christmas. Christmas without your snow is not the same. I should know-you rarely ever give snow here. Just icy cold winds and dirt.

But I wish you would be better friends with Summer. Why, you ask? Because I don't like your cold. I'm tired of thawing out my hot water pipes every stinkin' week. And the frozen toilet tank yesterday? Not funny. I would like you to trade in your cold and share Summer's warmth instead. Keep the snow, of course, but let's have some toasty temps to go with those pretty snowfalls, ok?

If you can't handle that, then we can't be friends anymore. You'll have to leave. Go be friends with Santa and the north pole instead. And feel free to take the Gobi Desert with you. Thanks.

Love for Worship Leaders

Today I read a blog for worship leaders. It took 1 Corinthians 13 from the Message and re-wrote it for worship leaders. Most people apply this passage to marriage/dating relationships. "Ordinary" applications are often mediocre. Maybe it's because I am a worship leader, but this is one of the best applications for 1 Corinthians 13 that I've seen:

If I speak with human eloquence and sing and play my instrument with angelic ecstasy and have an incredible vision but don’t love the people I’m called to serve, I’m nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate. If I speak God’s Word with assurance or play my Taylor guitar (smile!) with skill and power, revealing all his mysteries through the songs that I write and sing and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, “Jump,” and it jumps, and the skill to move people to tears and thrills as I lead worship, but I don’t love, I’m nothing.

If I give everything I own to the poor and do Advent Conspiracy or take up an offering for Blood:Water:Mission every single Christmas and even go on a mission trip every year, but I don’t love my team or my congregation or those in need of knowing Jesus, I’ve gotten nowhere.

So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, how well I play, or how skillfully I sing, or how great a leader I am, I’m bankrupt without love.

Love never gives up. Love cares more for my band and congregation than for myself. Love allows others center stage and hears other’s ideas. Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have and is not jealous when others succeed. Love doesn’t strut and insist on being the center of attention and the one to lead or sing or preach all the time, doesn’t have a swelled head, doesn’t force itself on others and promote itself endlessly, isn’t always “me first,” or “look at me” or “give me the mic”. Doesn’t fly off the handle, or throw artistic tantrums. Doesn’t keep score of the sins or musical mistakes or shortcomings of others, Doesn’t revel when others grovel, Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth and in the gifts and successes of others, Puts up with anything, Trusts God always, Always looks for the best and cheers others on, Never looks back, keeps going to the end. Love never dies.

Inspired speech and musical gifts and creative ideas will be over some day; planning services and creating videos will end; our ability and understanding will reach its limit. We know only a portion of the truth, and what we say and sing about God is – at our best – always incomplete. But when the Complete arrives, our incompletes will be canceled…… We don’t yet see things clearly, even on our best, most inspired and creative days. We’re squinting in a fog, peering through a mist, painting a picture of an Indescribable God. But it won’t be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We’ll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us! But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly.

And the best of the three is love.


I definitely fail in some of these areas. But this also makes me feel more free to do things a little differently than "expected." Because in the end, love is what matters.

Continue. Stand firmly.

He has brought me into His own presence, and I am holy and blameless as I stand before Him without a single fault. But I must continue to believe this truth, stand firmly in it, and not drift away from the assurance I received when I heard the Good News. (Col. 1:22-23a)

I am a chosen woman. I am a royal priest... God’s very own possession. As a result, I can show others the goodness of God, for He called me out of the darkness into His wonderful light. (1 Pet. 2:9)

Sometimes it's easy to lose sight of the truth. Especially when living in another country. Your comfort zone is invaded, your limits are pushed, your "normal" is challenged, your world is turned upside-down... and new "realities" are formed. There's a constant battle between who you were and who you are becoming...between your born-and-raised culture and your living-in culture.

And if, in that living-in culture, you work with more than one nationality of people, you can multiply this whole complex scenario by 100. For every nationality you encounter.

You have to sift through cultural expectations, communication barriers, personalities... and figure out how they match up to the overarching truth in His Word. I often don't realize when lies start to creep in. I don't realize when other peoples' words or actions (good or bad) stir things up in my mind and cloud out the truth. Before long I end up on an out-of-control whirlpool of mixed messages. That is, until I bump into the truth.

I remember as a kid being fascinated with the way water moved. I liked stirring a pitcher of water (or juice) and watching it swirl around in a whirlpool. And by gradually stirring faster, the whirlpool got bigger and bigger. But I also liked sticking the spoon back into the water and bringing the whirlpool to a grinding halt.

For me, the grinding halt came in the form of a friend, reminding me of God's truths of who I am, who God has made me, how He has used me. It was then that I realized that I'd been sucked into a week-long whirlpool of cloudiness. That night I read the two verses above and knew I had to continue to believe these truths. I have to stand firmly in them.

He has chosen me.

He has a plan for me. And He has anointed me for it.

I want to be like a tree planted by the river (Ps. 1). The water still rushes past, but the tree stands firmly. Unmoved.

And that is the only reality that matters.

Fill your minds and meditate on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse.
(Phil. 4:8, MSG)

I want to be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.
(Jer. 17:8 NIV)