Tickets and Tingles

Now I will be the first to admit that I don't know the difference between a 737, 767 or an A353 - or, quite frankly, anything about flying - because all that matters to me is that I get from point A to point B. And in June, point A is Seattle and point B is Lilongwe, Malawi. That said, we have our tickets!! Wahoo! I just had to share that with you! But not just that - I want to share how the hand of Providence has been guiding us.

When we went to purchase the tickets we had already done our research and knew the ballpark cost. We had picked out a flight plan and had double checked it with the travel agent, making sure it was a low fare. I drove to town, met with the agent in person and prepared to finalize the arrangements. But before I did the agent decided to do one more quick check on flights and we are so thankful she did. She found a previously unknown plan that saved us $400 per ticket - that is $800 total!! (I will leave off the fact that it is a much longer and more grueling flight schedule because God made a way for us to save so much money!)

When traveling oversees it is a good idea to have evacuation insurance. We purchased a policy for the Zambia trip and we were planning on purchasing one for our trip to Malawi. While speaking with our agent during the planning stages of our June trip she suggested this to us and I told her we were planning on getting a plan and that we had already found a place to do that - thinking we would simply use the same agency we did for Zambia. However, when we were finalizing plans, she told us that her office just started offering travel insurance and asked if I wanted to see what they were able to do. I thought that I might as well and guess what?? They had just started offering a great travel insurance plan - much better than the one we had for our previous trip. I was so excited! And thankful to know that God is taking care of us!

But that is not all! Now come the tingles!! A woman overheard me talking to someone else about changing dollars to kwacha and when I walked past her she asked me if I was going on a trip to Malawi. I was a bit shocked and told her that, yes, my husband and I were heading there in a few months. She did not ask our reason for going - she simply got excited and proceeded to tell me that I needed to contact a local couple who is connected to Malawi in a major way. The wife is Malawian - they started a ministry in Lilongwe working with youth (tutoring, feeding, etc.) in the poorest area - the church they attend here in Whatcom County is involved with the ministry - a brother is involved with an anti child trafficking organization based in Blantyre - they have many connections and contacts in Malawi. I literally walked away from that conversation with tingles - again knowing that Providence had orchestrated that meeting.

I wanted so desperately to call that couple but, yes, I was chicken. I mean, what was I supposed to say? But the tingles stayed and I did call. And guess what? While speaking with the gentleman, he was also very excited and said he had tingles about our conversation! Once again, a connection set up by God Himself. We are planning on meeting in person sometime in the near future. How amazing it was to find out there are others in the county who are connected to Malawi and are partnering with what God is doing there.

So, in short, we have tickets and tingles! And we are so excited and thankful to see the hand of Providence making a way for us - and you - to partner with Him in Malawi.

Our Family

Just look at what Hayley made for me!! Isn't it super great?! She even added special details that go with each person. This is family fun at its finest! Can you guess who each one is??

Butterfly

I have nothing close to a green thumb. In fact, dandelions are the only things I can grow with consistent success. That is why I am so proud of my butterfly bushes. Yes, I know no special care is needed and they will grow almost anywhere...but still. At our previous home I planted a start from one of my parents' bushes and it grew into a beautiful, ginormous bush with a natural arch - forming an inviting tunnel entry into the backyard. And here at our current home, near Mt. Baker where the growing season is months shorter than it is elsewhere, my three bushes bloom and beckon the butterflies to come and visit.

Butterflies are gentle, fragile and beautiful. But they don't start out that way. Butterflies begin life as caterpillars - long, lumpy with lots of legs. After a caterpillar eats its fill, it makes a chrysalis, somewhat liquefies itself, reorganizes and transforms into a butterfly. Even after years of research scientists do not fully understand this metamorphosis. But simply put the caterpillar changes; it gives up itself. And only when it gives up itself and changes do we see the beauty that is a butterfly. God could have made butterflies to begin life as butterflies but He didn't. He made self-sacrifice and change necessary for them to be all that He created them to be.

What we can learn from a caterpillar! Some of us are able to embrace change and others, like me, find it way too prickley to embrace. So as big change is looming on the horizon for us I find myself thinking about caterpillars and butterflies and hoping that I, too, can willingly give up my self, my dreams, my wants, embrace the change and emerge on the other side all that my Creator created me to be.

Take Courage!

"The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph..." Thomas Paine

Jiggers

Tunga penetrans, also known as the jigger, is a type of flea that is found in warm, dry climates. The female jigger burrows its way into the skin, causing lesions, infections and pain, and feeds on the host's blood. The jigger leaves an opening in the skin and releases over 100 eggs during the next couple of weeks. These eggs fall to the ground through the opening and within the next three to four weeks the eggs hatch and are ready for hosts. Because the jigger lives in the dirt and is not a good jumper, most lesions occur on the feet. (This is also true because most people living in the area of jiggers do not have shoes!) Heavy infestations can be debilitating - causing loss of toenails, loss of toes, tetanus and even death. However, in most cases the jigger causes pain, inability to walk or carry out daily duties, alienation from neighbors, low self esteem and, oh yes, the spreading of HIV/AIDS. The jigger itself does not spread this disease, however, when an infected individual tries to dig the jiggers out with a pin and then that pin is used to dig out jiggers from someone else blood is transferred.
And to think a jigger infestation can be curred with hydrogen peroxide and a pair of shoes. So many people are hurting and the cure seems so simple. Can't we/shouldn't we help them?

photo courtesy google image search

Grace

I couldn't do it. The music was playing and the words were up on the wall but I just couldn't sing the chorus. It went something like this - Your grace is enough - Your grace is enough - Your grace is enough for me. At that moment my mind had flashed to North Korea, to the estimated 70,000 fellow followers of Christ who are suffering through unimaginable torture in North Korea's notorious labor camps. And to the over 400,000 believers living in fear because even owning a Bible in North Korea could get them executed or imprisoned for life with their whole family. As the congregation was singing I simply wondered if those words were true for me - is His grace enough for me? Theologically speaking, I believe Ephesians 2:8&9, so, yes, I believe His grace is enough to save me. And maybe I was over thinking things but the question was, is His grace enough for me. If everything else was stripped away, everything, do I believe His grace is enough? Could His grace be enough to get me through slavery in a labor camp or imprisonment or foreclosure or job loss or separation from family or heartache or .... And the answer is yes it could be enough - but would I accept it as enough? Would I be ok losing everything as long as I had His grace? Would you??

Divided

Our children sit through church. In fact, they always have. They were never sent to the nursery so we could 'do church;' they have always been included. Yes, at times it was difficult for them to sit quietly (especially one of them!) but the expectations were clear from the beginning. Our children now have a great respect for the church - for the community of believers of all ages. The Bible does not separate the church into ages - church for children, church for adults, church for teens, church for retirees. All followers of Christ are the church - collectively - together.
A couple of months ago I watched the film Divided. And I must say, the Leclerc brothers did an outstanding job of tackling the questions surrounding the rapid exodus of Christian youth from church and faith. The documentary follows Philip Leclerc as he travels around the country asking questions and interviewing people. It is not an opinionated piece showing one view point. The Leclercs simply ask questions, search out the answers and present the facts. And they measure everything with Scripture. The documentary shows us that age segregated church programs do not seem to be working. Could it be because they do not embrace the Biblical model of discipleship - the model God designed?
Whatever your opinion of age-segregation in churches, Divided will get you thinking. It will test what you know and what you think you know. It will help you understand why you believe what you believe. I highly recommend watching it! At the end you will be able to answer the following question for yourself: "Is modern youth ministry multiplying or dividing the church?"