Uganda III

Uganda II

We've only been gone for 4 hours and there are already stories to tell. We voted and our favorite is Kent saying, "not to change the subject, but do you know that in Hawaii you are responsible for your coconuts on your palm trees? Like if they fall off and hit someone on the head you are responsible for them.". Which of course had NOTHING to do with what we were talking about.

Baggage weigh in went well, only one bag was over and they let it though. Dad and Kent were searched pretty heavily and they confiscated dad's toothpaste, which he is still upset about...I told him nothing over 3 ounces, but what do I know?

I am so excited for this trip and am honored that the Lord is allowing me this opportunity. My goal is to be completely open to what he has and to let others know that He loves them.

Uganda 2011

This time next week I will be in London, England waiting to board a plane to Entibee, Uganda for a 10 day mission trip. I cannot wait to get there! Our team leader, Kevin Hoke, has warned us about the spiritual warfare that we would encounter prior to this trip, but I didn't really believe that is would happen to me. (One would think that after things my life, I'd know...)Well, he was right. It hit last Saturday in the form of my plans not happening like I wanted them to and my glasses and camera breaking and the shingles off the north side of my rent house completely being peeled off during that freakish storm we had yesterday. Then I remembered the words of Jesus, "Who of you has ever added a day to your life by worrying?". I have to have a lot of talks with myself. Here's what they sound like: "April, just deal with this little annoyance and move on. Don't let Satan get a foothold on your joy. He's trying to push his way in and He's not welcome." Crazy I know, but it works. So, next time I freak out, please remind me to have a talk with myself! More updates to come on the mission trip!

This is Where the Healing Begins

Emotional healing is there. But, in order for healing to begin, the one in need of it has to make a choice.

Remember the woman with the issue of blood (Matthew 9:20-22)? She had searched everywhere for healing for years. She spent all of her money on "healing". It was not until she made a choice to go the Healer that her healing occurred.

Imagine what was going through her mind. She had probably heard about this Healer, Jesus, sometime before. But I imagine that she had come to the point in life that she had given up hope on healing for herself. Healing wasn't in the cards for her. She had done everything that she could do.

But then she heard that Jesus was in town...What if...No, he couldn't or wouldn't help her. But...what if?

What would it hurt? It wouldn't cost any money-time and embarrassment-yes, but that wasn't anything she hadn't had to deal with before. The more she thought about it, the more that the possibility of healing began to flicker a flame of hope deep down in a place that she thought was shut off for good.

So, when she heard that he was close to her place, she new it was now or never. Unfortunately for her, not only was she a woman, she had this unforgivable issue. This issue was the source of shame for some 12 years.

Let's pause here and think of the the man blind from birth (John 9:1-12). The pharisees tried to pen his life-long condition as punishment for a sin his parents or he and had committed. But what did Jesus say was the reason? "but for the works of God to be made manifest in him." (John 9:3) In other words, so when the healing finally did come, God would get the glory!

Go back with me to the woman with the issue of blood.

Here it is. This is big, are you ready?

12 years she lived with the shame and isolation of this...condition...something that she probably had not caused her self and had no control over.

Why?

For that day. For the day when Jesus came. For the choice she made that said to the generations, "My issue and my healing is for GOD'S glory."

That day she had an inside out healing. Not just physical, but emotional. But she had to take the first step. She had to make a choice to go to Jesus. Bust up through the chaos and take the healing that He wanted to give.

What's your condition? Not just physical, but the deep down condition that draws a shadow over you and your life? Be honest with yourself. It's tough, believe me, I know. Here are a few of mine: guilt, resentment, caring too much about what others think about me, PRIDE (my biggie), loneliness, fear, etc. That's just a few.

So here's my choice: Keep carrying my issues around, or bust through the chaos of my life and touch the Healer. Let him do the work in me that He's been waiting to do and then LIVE ABUNDANTLY. And each and every time Satan tries to bring my issues up again, I chose to remember what Jeremiah said in Lamentations Chapter 3 about remembering hope and choosing to keep a grip on hope. I'm choosing holding on to hope and let go of issues.

Kutz for Kidz

Kyle and I are both PK's. Preacher's Kids. While neither of us ever felt "called" to a specific ministry, we did know, with out a doubt, that the Lord had a specific calling for us. That was helping people. Kyle was always the best at helping people. I'm pretty sure that almost everyone that knew Kyle was helped by in at least once, in one way or another. He just had an eye for seeing needs and meeting them. I guess my role in this was helping Kyle help others. Now, it's my turn to find the needs and meet them. I can't think of a better way to honor Kyle than to dig in and get to work!

I just wish that Kyle was at home for me tonight to tell all of the stories from MFBC's first annual Kutz for Kidz! I helped to organize a few hairdressers and volunteers for free back to school haircuts and manicures/pedicures. It was an amazing day! Kids that were hesitant and unsure when they entered the church left excited and full of confidence to start the new year. They also left with a fresh cut, painted nails, and hygiene kits. I was so proud of our church and volunteers. Thanks to Darlena Crow, Monta Hedge, Sarah Wilson, Rachel Winn, and Gina Miller for cutting hair. Thanks to Janet Stone, Lorie Long, Bethany Long, Hannah Long, Nikki Robinson, and Lisa Bridges for painting nails, stuffing bags, sweeping up hair and fixing lunch! Thanks to MFBC for your generous donations. We had exactally enough money to get exactally what we needed! Isn't God AWESOME?

I've got to share my favorite moment from the day! One girl, a senior, came for a new do. Her hair looked like it hadn't been cut in some time. Sarah did her magic and this quiet, unsure girl emerged glowing! She then went over and let the girls paint her nails, then left. About an hour later I felt someone tapping on my shoulder. It was her. She had gone home and fixed her hair and wanted to come back and show me. Of course she looked wonderful and we all told her. Her little brother was with her, so we washed his sweaty hair and cut his too. Just after they left, I went to pick up some other kids to get their hair cut and I spotted the girl and her brother walking down the road. They had walked, a ways, to the church not once to get a haircut, but a second time to show us her "fixed" hair because she was so excited and thankful! Makes it all worth it!!!

I Feel You When...

This is one that I have had rolling around in my head for months. I just keep adding to it.

I feel you when the sun is shining
I feel you when our children laugh
I feel you beside me when I waterski
I feel you when the Cardinals come on tv
I feel you when anyone eats anything weird
I feel you when I don't know what do do
I feel you when there are a millon stars in the sky
I feel you when I'm lonely, oh so lonely
I feel you when I smile


One of the last days that Kyle and I had together, we ran to the post office. I went in for stamps and he waited in the truck. When I got back in the truck, he said, "You should smile more. You have a lot to smile about." I try and remember that when I feel down. He's right. Although my heart is broken in 1,000 pieces, I do have a lot to smile about. Just another way to keep him alive:SMILE.

What I Really Believe

Let me start out with saying that God is good. In each and every circumstance, He is good. Until 4 months ago I never really had any reason to believe otherwise. My life had minor ups and downs, but overall it was great. As a matter of fact, I remember thinking that very thought just hours before Kyle died. In the moments and days that followed Kyle's death, I had a choice to make. I needed to choose what I really, really believed: Was God good or not?

In those moments of complete and utter heartbreak I made the hardest decision of my life. I chose to believe that God was, is, and will be good. Is my heart still shattered? Yes. Am I scared, lonely, uncertain of my future? Yes, yes and yes. But is God still good? YES.

Now, let me tell you how I know that. When the doctor came in the waiting room that night and told me that Kyle did not survive, I immediately felt Jesus hugging me. I felt Jesus' physical presence in that room and around my shoulders. In moments of grief and panic I called his name and felt him again.

I can't decide if my life has been a roller coster or a soap opera the past four months but through it all God is good. He would still be good if I had never felt that physical presence around me that night. He is good.

I have now literally walked through the valley of the shadow of death. I will fear no evil. Fearing no evil doesn't mean that I God is going to spare me from evil or unpleasant situations, it means that when I am faced with those situations, I have nothing to fear, for God is with me.

I think that, for me, until i walked through that valley and had to chose to completely depend on the Lord, I never really knew how good, awesome, and loving God is.