My Pondering Mind

This morning as I was spending some delightful quiet time with the Lord, it dawned on me that maybe it was time to share with you a few of the things that have been rolling around in my mind. After all, that's what this blog is intended for . . . to share Haley's trip from a mom's perspective. Giving you only the fun details would be great, but I want this to be an honest portrayal of what it's like to send a child to Africa! At the end of the trip, I want to be able to look back and see exactly how God works out detail after detail, and I want you to experience His goodness with us!

First of all, it has been amazing to me how many times the subject of Africa and orphans has come up in things like conversations, radio broadcasts, sermons, and emails. Have I just never paid attention before, or is God just strategically placing those things in my life right now? For example, when we were standing in line for the state swim meet awhile back, we were visiting with my cousin's wife, Tiffany, and her mom, Tamy, and eventually we learned that Tamy had spent time loving on the children in Zambia a couple summers ago. She shared with us how special it was to love on those children, and I could see the genuine love of God in her eyes as she was describing it. I love how God brings insight into my mind through all these things! I'm learning to be more diligent in praying for Haley's heart as she prepares for her trip and praying that God's love will ooze out of her as she loves on those children.

Secondly, I'll be completely honest here. Fund-raising is heavy on the brain right now. We've been blessed to receive a packet in the mail from Global Expeditions with a lot of fund-raising ideas, so we're trying to figure out the most effective strategies in the midst of Haley's very busy schedule. She's involved in youth group, a small group, choir, volunteering at the Lydia House, working two part-time jobs, baby-sitting for a family on Friday nights, and of course, keeping up with an intense amount of homework. She's a busy girl! We have found ourselves in prayer together many times as we lay all of it at His feet and totally trust in Him.

Finally, I want to share with you that over Thanksgiving Haley met up with her friend Beth in Pella and Dura, a representative from Global who has been to Africa twice already. Their time was way too short, but Haley was able to glean so much information from them in a little bit of time. The realities of living in a tent, cozying up next to girlfriends for warmth, sleeping on a mat, living with primitive bathroom conditions, and maybe only being able to shower twice in a month's time started setting in, yet she came away with so much enthusiasm for her trip. I'm just amazed at how God is moving in her heart and am realizing more and more that when our daughter comes back to the States, she will be a changed person forever. It's a combination of scary and exciting all at the same time, but we'll continue to let God be our guide.