Making Time for God

It has been almost a week since our return from South Africa, and I can hardly believe it.  There is so much still to write about.  So much still to process.

I hit the ground running last Monday.  I felt the need to get organized and caught up with all I had missed here at home...not to mention getting caught up on sleep.  It wasn't a bad week, per say. It was just ... there.  I will say that it was so wonderful to see my family and share meals with those I love here at home.  And it was great to see my kiddos this past week!  I just felt really unsettled, which I blamed on jet lag and allergies.

Fast forward to today.  I was enjoying a lovely drive to church this morning and listening to David Crowder's song, After All (Holy).  It's a song that always sets my heart to worship, but today I soaked in these lyrics:

"Heaven and earth are full, full of your glory glory.  My soul it overflows, full of your glory glory.  Oh blessed is He who reigns, full of your glory glory.  My cup it can't contain all of your glory glory..."

Well, the dam broke at that point.  I just kept replaying moments from the trip in my head, and I was overcome. 

"My cup it can't contain all of your glory..."  Oh it's so true!  God is full of never ending glory that He keeps pouring out on us.  And we don't always see it or feel it, but it's there.  And sometimes it's so overwhelming, it leaves me a hot mess of tears at the wheel of my car.

I needed that overwhelming moment.  I needed to grieve having to say goodbye (until next year ;) to my friends in South Africa. But not only that, I grieved over having to leave behind all that quiet and concentrated time with God.  I grieved not being able to hold onto that holy space here at home.  I returned from SA and jumped right back into my daily routines, making my lists, managing my single gal household. 

Please don't misunderstand me.  I love my life here.  I love my family and friends, my church, my fabulous job, my community.  This has nothing to do with location.  It has everything to do with how easy it is to get distracted with worldly things in our normal routines.  It's about how easy it is to slip back into bad habits and busy calendars. For me, it's about putting my bible and journal on the shelf and picking up my planner or my ipad.  It's diving into all those things that keep me from seeing all the glory here at home because I'm so wrapped up in the daily grind.

Well, I am vowing not to do that anymore.  And it's going to take everything I have to fight against it.  My bible and journal will be with me wherever I go.  And while I can't totally abandon my planner nor my responsibilities, I can make changes to spend more concentrated time with God and building deeper relationships with my family and friends here. I can make time with God and for God. My God who reigns and fills my cup with overflowing.

Good Morning Mr. Sun

Khula morning!!!  We walked in this morning to a beautiful circle of kiddos doing their morning songs...

Good morning Mr. Sun

Our day has just begun

We love to see your smiling face

Good morning Mr. Sun

We also visited the Go Go again this year.  She's so funny and feisty and I still have no idea what she's saying.  But she's one of the most talented and crafty people, making beautiful baskets and mats.  She hides her baskets and was somewhat shy to get more of them out today.  Mae and I had an interesting conversation about why she might not want to get them all out to sell.  My guess was that she wouldn't want to sell everything at once, mainly for 2 reasons...it takes her 3 days to make one basket and she needs a steady stream of income.  Or perhaps it's pride in her work, making it difficult to part with it?  When I learn Zulu, I will ask her ;-)

We came back into the classroom to have our music and lesson time.  I taught the kiddos a little Laurie Berkner, and they loved it!  We are the Dinosaurs and I'm Gonna Catch You.  Allie then lead us all in telling the story of Moses and the Red Sea.  We wrote a piggyback song to London Bridge and used streamers as our sea...

The afternoon was probably one if my most favorite times thus far.  We had a great time at Murchison with the after school kids.  You should see the way they come running towards the van when they see it arrive.  We could barely get out of it today as the kiddos stormed the door!  It is one of the best feelings and sights in the world.

I have grown particularly attached to two young girls who never fail in picking me out of the crowd.  We danced and played today, and at one point they asked to borrow my pen and then ran off.  Several minutes later, they returned with these...

I barely held it together!  What a lovely gesture!  I want to write more about our time here, but I need some time to process the experience.  It has caught me off guard in a lot of ways, but wonderfully so!

We are on our way to a second lodge today, so I'm unsure of how connected I will be able to be.  I will keep blogging as I can.  In the meantime, please keep praying for our health and safety, and the work we continue to do.  I pray for you all as well.  Please send me anything you need prayer for!  I would love to pray for you!

Much love,

Brandi

Death and a Budget Meeting

Imagine, if you will, that you are the head of a 40 bed hospice care center where everyday you are faced with the uncertainty of death of people you've come to know and love.  You are called to their bedside.  You are asked to pray or sing them to heaven.  They tell you how excited they are to meet Jesus.  You return to your office to cry and grieve and pray.  And then you have to engage in the day to day management of running a care center.  The budget meetings, the grant writing, dealing with aging plumbing, letting your staff go.

It blows my mind that this is what Sharon does everyday at the Genesis Care Center.  She is like no manager I have ever met and hearing her speak leaves me feeling so inspired.  Everywhere you look around the Genesis ministries, it is evident that God is present.  But there is something about the miracles at the care center that make me want to find a quiet space and pray like I've never prayed before.  This staff prays with a holy confidence that moves mountains and brings peace.  I'm not saying that it always works the way they want but the presence of God is undeniable.  And they are not unlike the rest of us, with their doubt, their questions, and their feelings of defeat.  But they have no doubt that God is a sovereign God.  And they love Him and praise Him despite their circumstances.  And they know the power of prayer.

I want that holy confidence, and I want that prayer life.  The care center starts every morning with a group prayer, and I think this makes all the difference in the world.  I think of another tremendous, life-changing organization...IJM...who also starts their day with prayer.  And all of this makes me wonder....what would our places of employment look like if we started our day in group prayer?  I wish there was a way to find out.  But in the meantime, I can commit to drawing a circle of prayer around my agency, my colleagues, and my families, on my own.

I'm so thankful for Sharon and her staff.  They are amazing and remind me of the power of a deeper prayer life.  Prayers for life, prayers for piece in grieving and death, and even prayers for the budge meetings, grant writing, and old plumbing.  God is listening, God is answering.  We just need to do the asking.

Goodnight for now!

Much love,

Brandi

"Would they know we were gone?"

"If the church was uprooted today, would anyone know we were gone?" Pastor Trevor and the Norwegian Settlers Church asked themselves this question. It's a very sobering thought, don't you think?How are we impacting the lives of others? How are we making a difference in our own communities? What single effort are we making and how is it changing the world? The church asked themselves this question many years ago, and as a result the ministry of Genesis was born. A ministry that included practical strategies such as starting a local gym to bring in broken men and encouraging them to invest in their own lives; a feeding program that resulted in the development of an entire preschool program; a care center that first treated the dying and now births healing and a return to life. All of these programs, and more, came out of that single question..."...would anyone know we were gone?"

Genesis' single greatest mission is to take the church outside the walls of a Sunday morning building. Trevor was once asked "How big is your church?" And Trevor answered, "about 20,000". He said he knew what the man was really asking him...how big is your congregation? But it was more important to understand that the gospel and ministry of this small church was reaching the masses every single day. Staff, volunteers, and missionaries from around the world were pouring their heart and soul into this small but devastated community everyday.

And the numbers continue to grow. The impact continues to grow.

Monday included our first trip to Khula; the preschool program. This program, that now serves a growing number of over 70 children, first began when one couple saw a need to feed five hungry children. Let me say that again....

ONE couple set out to feed 5 hungry children.

"...would they know we were gone?"

I practically ran out of the van and into the classroom building, immediately seeing familiar faces in the children and teachers. And do you know what else I saw? I saw teachers who were 100% more confident in their teaching from a year ago. I saw children who were cleaner and more engaged than they were a year ago. I saw supplies that were challenging the children to problem solve and get creative. I saw a playground that had simply been painted and cleaned up, adding a little beauty and order to the day.

"....would they know we were gone?"

I have so many more stories and moments to share, but I encourage you to be still with this question today. "Would they know if you were gone?" And who are "they" in your world? Are they your family, your friends, your community, your church?

It's not the size of your impact but the quality. Just put yourself out there, and trust God to reach the masses! Step out and trust! Build your relationships! Be a presence in a time of need!

Have a blessed day, everyone!
Much love,
Brandi

A little peace of Sunday

Aaaaahhhh church! Just what we needed to start off the day. Pastor Trevor's message was about Peace (I will know if you didn't read this post if you start commenting on how I misspelled peace in the title! Ha!). Anyway, I want to share some of the message. For those of you who do not follow Christ, I just ask that you bear with me for a bit as I try to tie it into the elements of the trip.

What characteristics do "people of peace" have? 1. They follow Jesus despite the cost. 2. They follow Jesus despite their "better judgement". 3. They understand that God is good all the time. 4. They don't need answers to all their questions; it doesn't determine the level of their faith.

When we become Christians, we are lavished with the full measure of God, but over time, we tend to develop holes in our peace tank. Peace is lost at the point of sin. Peace is lost when the externals of your life are in disarray. Peace is lost when internal thinking is corrupt. Peace is lost at the point of poor theology. And finally, peace is lost at the point of having a God-given burden.

This last point settled into my head and my heart. Trevor said its the only legitimate reason for having lost your peace. Only, this loss of peace does not come from the holes in your tank, but rather, from the overflow.

I need a God-given burden. It may not be pleasant, it may not be popular, it may not be solvable, it may not be totally peaceful but I need it. It helps me to connect with humanity, it helps me to see the good in others, it helps me to discover the good in me, it helps me experience pure joy, and it forces me to lay down my weapons and simply surrender to God's plan for me. And despite not feeling "at peace" with it all the time, I cannot fully explain how it actually becomes the most peaceful feeling ever. Leaving me free to serve others, free to let go of the crap I hold onto that doesn't even matter, free to step into an adventure, free to love with my whole heart.

I have a God-given burden in Africa. I love Africa. I feel incredibly blessed and surprised beyond belief that God would hand me this burden. I can't imagine if I had never been in a position to hear God's whisper about that. I'm so thankful to be here a second time, and I pray that He continues to send me here!

Have a blessed day, everybody!
Much love,
Brandi

S-T-R-EEEEEE-T-C-H

"I wanna set the world on fire..."

Ok maybe the words to this song were a little too literal this morning as my hair dryer caught fire and basically exploded internally. Poor little hair dryer. I did ask God to stretch me this trip, and He seems to be wasting no time (you all know me and know how much a value a fun hairdo..,haha). He seems to be chipping away at my vanity and rightly so. :)

We are heading off to church soon, and I cannot wait! Last night's debrief was just what we all needed...a time to get refocused on why we are here and prepare our hearts for God's calling and teaching. Allie and I started the morning off with a beautiful walk around campus as the sun rose against the African sky. So peaceful and just the kind of warmth needed to start the day.

We will be spending the afternoon with Pastor Trevor and his wife, and then we will head over to the orphanage. I'm looking forward to this and dreading it all at the same time. I can't wait to hold the babies and shower them with all the love they can take. Praying that my heart can hold up as well.

I'm going to try to end each post with prayer points for all of you back home. I would also ask that you PLEASE leave me some things to pray for you. You can comment here or on my Facebook page or send me an email. But please share with me the things you need prayer for.

Prayer points:
Continued safety and good health
A focused and quiet heart
Love for the babies and staff this afternoon

Thank you!! Have a blessed Sunday!!

Much love,
Brandi

Johannesburg

We made it safely to Johannesburg!! Thank you again for travel prayers. We had some luggage issues, but we know God is in control and we are going with the flow. And playing scrabble....

Please continue to pray for travel to Port Shepstone tomorrow! I can't wait to see everybody!! Praying that all of you are enjoying a nice weekend!

Much love,
Brandi

Amsterdam!

We made it safely to Amsterdam! It was a fun flight of getting to know my fellow missionaries :) Please continue to pray for the next leg of our journey to Johannesburg! And I apologize if you get multiple postings of this. Working out the kinks of international wifi :)

Much love!
Brandi