SUMMER 2010

I have literally had one of the best Summer's of my life. Between graduations, beach trips, family & friend gatherings, weddings, doing a dance/devotion time with some girls who live in Marks Village, and traveling to India I must say it was pretty exciting! My original intention with this blog was to post my fostering journey, but I feel the Lord leading me to express more...fostering is only one aspect of my life, so why not share it all right?! :-)


In regards to fostering, I have consistently been able to have the same girl come and stay with me on a monthly basis. This little girl in the pic is my cousin, Addie, who has hung out with us quite a bit. She's a super fun chick and just the girl who can relate to my little foster friend on a level that I can not:) I prayed that I would be able to build a relationship with the same child, and the Lord provided just the kind of unique opportunity to do just that. God has taught me quite a bit since I've known this foster child. Without going into too much detail- I will list some things that have stood out: I must word what I say in a firm but nice tone, making sure I go over all the rules up front, unconditional love, teachable moments always come at just the right time, and the most important (and duuuh moment for me)...when God's Word is brought into play-no matter the situation or circumstance...whether discipline or encouragement-it always sounds SO MUCH BETTER! I do a nightly devotion with her, and it's amazing to see how whatever happens in a given day I can always relate it back to Christ and His character and how we should live like Him no matter what. I still have so much to learn, but praise Him for all He is revealing to me that I should share with her!


One of my biggest supporters throughout this whole fostering time has been my boyfriend, Adam. He definitely came into my life at just the right time...a time that I truly needed a dude...no seriously, I was taking on foster needs AND the guest toilet was messed up ha! He is such a sweetheart...I couldn't have asked for a better boyfriend:-) He is an amazing, godly man who puts my needs before his own. I have never experienced such joy in a dating relationship. He is like a breath of fresh air! I am one extremely lucky girl who praises God continually for Adam's presence in my life. God is teaching us what it means to seek after Him and have faith that He's got it all worked out. We are following His lead and are so excited to see what the future holds for us as a couple:-)


Okay so India...lots to share! For all of those who prayed for me thank you, thank you, thank you!! They worked!! Let me first share a letter I wrote before my trip that explained why I was going and what I would be doing there, and then will explain how God brought it to fruitition:

"Our pastor challenged the church to participate in a “radical experiment” in 2010 and one of the components entails spending 98% of our time spreading the Gospel locally and the other 2% beyond Birmingham. Another component of the experiment is to sacrifice money for a specific purpose and Brookhills drastically cut their budget in order to give to the poor and needy. After much prayer and research, India was chosen as the country in which $1.1 million was given in order to meet the physical and spiritual needs there. India has been on my heart for a while, and that just sealed the deal. So doors have swung wide open for me to be apart of this July team with other members from my church, and I couldn’t be more thrilled! I am confident that the Lord wants me to go to India at this time, with this team, in order to make His presence known in a country that is considered to be amongst the most unreached places concerning the gospel. I was cut to the core as I read these words from John Piper’s book Don’t Waste Your Life. Let them soak in…

This is God’s design in world history-that people from all nations and tribes and languages come to worship and treasure Christ above all things. Or as Paul put it in Romans 15:9, “that the Gentiles [all the peoples] might glorify God for his mercy.” There can be no weary resignation, no cowardly retreat, and no merciless contentment among Christ’s people while He is disowned among thousands of unreached peoples. Every Christian (who loves people and honors Christ) must care about this.

I want to care about what Christ cares about and the lost are at the top of that list! So I encourage you to pray. Pray for how God would have you respond in order to make His name great among the nations. Pray for spiritual, physical, and mental strength as my team and I prepare our hearts, minds, and bodies for major spiritual warfare. The people of India worship thousands of different idols, so pray for God to show them their need for Him and Him alone. Statistics show that nearly 50% of the world’s hungry live in India and thousands die daily due to preventable diseases mostly caused by unclean water. Our team will be sharing material in schools and villages that teach the importance of clean water. Pray we can help them understand the importance of having clean water to help save their physical lives, but even moreso help us relay to them that through Christ their spiritual souls can be saved.

My most important prayer is that these people see Jesus and not me. That He receives all the glory and honor for anything that He chooses to accomplish with me as His vessel. The mere fact that He chooses to use people to carry out His purpose of saving a lost and dying world is astonishing! But that’s how He planned it from the beginning. I am going to need the body of Christ surrounding me during this time like never before"...

I look back in amazement to see how God answered those prayers...I want to be able to describe my experiences in detail, and I'm afraid I won't do it justice if I do it in one long post. I'm going to try and post more about it this week. As you can tell I don't post very often, but going to give it my best effort with this trip!