Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Felisters


Hello to all. Been a while since I have written down my thoughts, but wanted to take a minute and blog about someone that has been on my heart:) As you know, I am headed to Zambia this summer to minister to orphans in Lusaka. It is an amazing trip and will be life changing for sure, but I have something else to look forward to. My friend Allison took this journey last summer and has a whole lot to do with why I am going in June. Allison, Kelli and I were all hanging out one night after church talking about things we would like to do. Allison started talking about Zambia, showed us her pictures and video, and we were brought to tears. I knew at that moment that I wanted to be a part of what God was doing with these orphans. At that time, she asked if I wanted to sponsor one of her kiddos from camp last summer. I would pay $36/month so that the orphan could go to school and then also be fed daily:) So, I signed up and have been supporting a sweet little girl named Felisters for the last 6 months. She has a story much like those around her. She is 9 years old and has no idea of her birthday. She lives in one of the villages there with her grandmother and 2 older sisters. Her mom lives in another village with her older brothers and works there. Felister's grandmother does not work and her dad is deceased of TB when she was 7 years old. The rough part is that her older sister beats her and her grandmother cannot control it. They live in poverty. Last year before Camp Life, Felisters was kicked out of school because she owed $6. $6!!!! She was devastated. She got to got to Camp, but the requirement is the child has to be in school to come to camp, so she was worried about this summer. That's where I came in:) Now, I pay her way to school and ensure she get to eat....and what does that mean you ask? She will be at Camp Life again this summer and I GET TO MEET HER!!!!!! I am just beside myself! I have written her a letter telling her about me and sent her pictures of me and my family and then one of me and Shelley and Kelli since they will be at camp too:) I pray for her and cannot wait to spend some time with her! I just had to share. I attached a picture of her last summer with Allison and her Zambian partner at Camp. She accepted Jesus as her Saviour on the second day of camp last year. I pray that the Lord will be her Shepherd and reveal himself to her over and over! All this to say, Meet my sweet friend Felisters! Isn't she beautiful!

Sunday, March 30, 2008

Shoes, shoes and more shoes:)




Hello friends and family! It's me again with another rambling of sorts:) So I sent out an email and told some people that one of the things we get to bless the kiddos in Zambia with are a new pair of shoes on Thursday of camp. We give them a pair of socks and then tie the shoes on their precious, beaten up feet. They go absolutely nuts! So we found out at our last meeting that we were 4000 shoes short. That would be a terrible thing except that we have a God that is bigger than any number. We all knew that if we went to him "ask and you shall receive" and he would provide. And provide He did through many generous people. Some were christians and some were not which is amazing because what a testimony! We got to our meeting tonight and started zip tying shoes together and sorting by size and gender. It was amazing! We had a big moving truck full of shoes and the great part is that this was the third truck! The meetings in Austin and Houston had tons of shoes too! Thank you Lord! And I just wanted to share the pics and the story with you guys. Thank you so much to all that gave shoes. I cannot tell you what a huge blessing you have been a part of for these orphans. Be blessed knowing that the shoes have been prayed over and these kids will be walking in prayers! Thank you! Praise the Lord!
Enjoy the pics!

Sunday, March 23, 2008

They call me Rachel....ha!


I DID IT!!! TAKE A LOOK AT THAT FOLKS....AND I MADE IT ALL BY MYSELF! (mostly, thanks Chiva!) But she was not present except for suggestion! YAY!!! I am on my way...watch out you might here me say "BAM!" at any time now....lol!!

Victory is ours....

Happy Easter! I pray that each of you are blessed today and are overwhelmed at what today stands for in your walk with the Saviour. I was reminded in a powerful word over the last couple of days at church. My pastor gave an amazing sermon on the "first Easter". I think that I fail to really focus on what Easter is about and all that took place on that first Easter. And truthfully, that is something I will never do again. Not only did Jesus die and then rise again, he made a way for us to live in hope and love. He paved the way to the Father for us. I think about how we would live if Jesus has just refused the Father's plan for death on the cross. Imagine with me....life would mean nothing. I would live in fear knowing that I have no hope for tomorrow. Satan would have power in the world and over our lives. Dying would be just that, an end to life that was miserable anyway. But instead, we have a Father that sent his son. Jesus stepped in and took my place in misery, pain, and death. Satan was defeated that day and all we have to say to him now when he comes to "steal, kill and destroy" is GO TO HELL!!!! Praise the Lord! Not only do we have a blessed life, we have a victorious life!!! And a risen and alive King, Lord, Father, Saviour, and Friend! Take a second and figure out who he is to you today! Bless you all!

Monday, March 17, 2008

Moms


I was just thinkin' today how blessed we are to have moms. Mine is pretty great. She came to town this weekend to hang out and enjoy the babies first birthday. It's always fun to have her here so I feel like I can semi resort back to the days when she was responsible for me. She was in the next room at night so I never had to be afraid. She bought the gas or the little snacks along the way home. She got our refills at the dinner table or rubbed my feet/back when I was sore. And most importantly, hugged me and loved on me, reminding me how precious a mother is. And I got to see all that echoed for her by my Meme. And truthfully I got a double whammy of attention and love because Meme dished it out to me too!:) I think that is part of the reason I look forward to being a mom so badly, because I want some precious little ones to know the love that my brother and I have received from her and Meme. I don't think it is possible to blame any of the woman that I have become on anyone but my momma and my Meme. So thanks, and that is not nearly enough. Love you both!

Sunday, March 16, 2008

Sushi Anyone?




So, one day while hanging out with my good friend Stacy Durham, we discussed sushi...Monty and I are both huge fans but Stacy gave it the big thumbs down. Being the good friend that I am, I told her gently, "Don't judge until you try!" With an AMEN! from Monty, I set a lunch date with Stace and let the games begin!
Now, I didn't want to freak her out right out of the box, so I started out with something simple, kinda boring if you will. California rolls and shrimp tempura were the menu item of the day. I am sure she thought I didn't get it, but she totally requested fried rice too! No confidence in the finer things I tell ya! :) So I show up at her door with our sushi experiment last week. You could tell she was trying to be excited but also a little weary. I promptly had her call Monty and tell him what she was about to do. He laughed and was just sad he was to miss it! We sat down at the table and I opened the boxes and explained each roll to her. It's all cooked sister! No worries about that this time!! We took out the proper utensils and soy sauce and Stacy took the plunge and crossed over into what I call "the other side". See pics above. Drum roll please.....
SHE LOVED IT! All she could say with her mouth full of crab, seaweed, cucumber and avacado was "this is really good"! I wanted to say I told you so, so I did! :) We immediately begin taking pictures, because we are dorks and that is what we do. I mean, come on, we have to capture this moment! Who doesn't take pictures and blog about the first time your friend eats sushi....no one answer that ok! We even sent Monty a posed pic so we could prove she did sushi and she did it up right! He was proud and even more pumped that there was plenty left for him!
Way to go Stacy! We are all so proud! Welcome to the "sushi" side of life!

Sunday, March 9, 2008

New to blogging







Well, I have decided to try this out...I always have lots of thoughts and think I ought to write them down and every friend I have seems to have a blog so I thought why not?! :) So here goes...

I am assuming you all know that I am going to Africa this summer. This weekend was the garage sale to raise some extra cash for the trip! Let me tell you, I have shopped garage sales before and contributed to them as well, but I have never put one on. And ladies and gents let me tell you, it is hard work! My front bedroom was filled with stuff from myself and family and then once Kelli (my friend that is going to Africa too) and I emailed and told people what we were doing, the stuff just kept on coming! Poor, sweet Kelli spent a good $200 on gas to and from Keller to bring stuff and my dad graciously drove me around last Saturday with his truck and trailor to collect all my treasures from my peeps at work! No words to describe it all!

So Friday, Kelli and I began to separate and make piles. Now Kelli is quite the organizer and she got us on track with how to set it all up. We started about 10 am and did not finish until about midnight...it was actually quite humerous. We got overwhelmed with the amount of work and stuff that we had, and began to affectionately call ourselves "Sanford and Son" and sang the Beverly Hillbilly's song as we drove down the highway with stuff in every available spot in our cars! HeHe! We had reinforcements come and help Friday evening which was such a huge blessing! Shelley came and helped us work through the clothing and then stayed for the party the next morning. Judy, my step mom, let's just say she is and was a pricing machine!! We had nothing priced and when we told her, she quietly smiled and just took on the role of "lead pricer" and saved us from a nite of masking tape and sharpees! Dawn showed up with some more treasures and I am pretty sure all the neighbors knew because she had her little car packed out, complete with Christmas tree hanging out the window and all! She also picked up our pizza! FOOD! And last not but certainly not least, there was Stacy and Krista...our first customers and our clothes hanger uppers! I am telling you it was a team effort!!! And truthfully, Kelli and I were so fried, we even forgot to go get cash and change until like 8p.m....HELLO! Who forgets that? It is a garage sale for cryin! I would like to give a shout out to the sweet customer service peeps at my neighborhood Wal-Mart...you made the change happen, and you did it without making a sound about the 2 tards that forgot such a big part of the day ahead...we will not forget you!


So we went from piles of clothes in my living room floor, to a nicely rigged pole/rope combo hanging in the garage, compliments of my dad...well sort of, if you ask him he says we were like aggies trying to manuever his idea, but you know what...Judy and I got it done thank you very much!! Tables crammed packed with trash, ahem, I mean treasures for our shoppers. Boxes and boxes for digging and multiple large ticket items strewn about. And all this in just a few short hours and hours of work!

5 a.m came so early Saturday morning, but up we jumped, well crawled and went about the business of getting it all ready and down the drive for the day to begin...Now let me explain something to those new to garage sales...you place an ad saying it begins at 7a.m and people show at 6a.m. rarin' to go. I was not a believer until 6 o'clock on the dot, our first customer rolled in....all for 2 pairs of jeans! It was amazing! People bought so many random and crazy things, but they did shop now! Shelley managed the money and then Judy came and enjoyed the day with us as well. Dawn came by to harrass us a little, make fun of our pig tails and then laughed with us as we all basked in the bitter cold temps! Yes, we were all in layers and had two space heaters...it was FREEZING! I think the highlight of the day was Chiva coming and shopping and then selling our stuff with her charm! Thanks girl! HeHe!

All in all it was an amazing day. I am exhausted but so blessed! We made $250 a piece for out trip! Thank you Lord! People donated cash and some even said they would pray for us!

So there is the breakdown of the Garage Sale '08...who am I kidding, it is the ONLY garage sale I will speak of:) Thanks to all those that donated, served, laughed, and fellowshipped with us! We are so glad to get to share this experience with you! Africa is happening because of the wonderful people we have in our lives that want to make it happen too! We serve a mighty God and He makes even the garage sales fun!:) Some kids will be blessed this summer all because of our weekend garage sale of fun! Love ya'll!