Everyday Beautiful

  To You I call, O LORD my Rock; do not turn a deaf ear to me. For if You remain silent, I will be like those who have gone down to the pit. Hear my cry for mercy as I call to You for help as I lift up my hands toward Your Most Holy Place. ------- Have you ever felt guilt when crying out to God for the thousandth time? Do you ever wonder if God gets sick of hearing your requests once again? How does one praise God when in the pit? I'm not talking about small disappointments (although I assure you, God desires you to bring Him all  kinds of prayers and requests); I'm speaking of soul-deep agony.  What if I said that one's desperate cry for help worships the Lord? Yes, a plea for mercy is worship. How? Although most obvious in a plea is the crying out, the pain, the agony... that's not the important part! To have a plea one must do two things: humble him/herself and acknowledge God as the only Savior.  What does God desire of you? To submit yourself to His will, to hum...

A dear friend of mine, Agumo Lois (see her wedding in my February blog posts), invited us to celebrate her birthday. A fellow missionary volunteered to drive. We filled the 9-seater van with 23 people, a chicken, guitar and gifts. (And maybe a partridge in a pair tree? 😊) On the way home, we no longer had a chicken or gifts, but made up for that by having 25 people in the van, the guitar and a bike on the roof rack. When we arrived, we were enthusiastically greeted, then lead to seats to wait for the "program" to start. When Agumo finally came out, her sisters insisted on throwing water on her, a Ugandan tradition for birthdays. Agumo invited us girls in her house while she found dry clothes. I'm so impressed by my friend's creativity in making her house particularly beautiful (I've never seen hut walls covered with white sheets the way Agumo did in her house). Lunch was a long time in coming, so we entertained ourselves with lively rounds of Uno and Spot It. Aft...

Our church's national youth leader began attending a sort of Bible college in January. He's enjoyed studying there immensely and often spoke of taking his fellow students to the village to meet us (the local youth group). In July the wish turned into a plan. Between 15 and 20 students joined our youth leader, Teacher Sam, to visit the village. The day proved immensely enjoyable and greatly encouraging! During the introductions, I felt my spirit leap. About four of the guests were refugees from South Sudan and one was a refugee from Sudan! I have been praying heavily for these countries, sometimes crying or feeling pain in my heart as I bring the war, persecution and division of these countries to the Lord. What joy I found in meeting brothers in Christ from these nations, seeing their joy despite challenging circumstances! I implore you to pray for these men, who have limited options after Bible college aside from returning to the refugee camps where they've left their wive...