I made it home safely from my road trip with friends and look forward to writing all about it and posting some fun pictures in the next few days. But today I am pausing to remember someone very special who went to be with the Lord this week.
Eric Stovall was a dear friend of my dad's, especially during the time he lived in Illinois. He had kept in close contact with him and since I arrived in Botswana, Eric has also kept in contact with me. Every month I knew I could expect to receive a wonderful email filled with encouragement and support. He and his wife, Phyllis, have been true blessings to me throughout my time here and huge supports to me in many ways, especially with their faithful prayer support and encouragement.
Eric was a wonderful man with a huge heart. He loved the Lord and cared deeply about others, and those of us on earth touched by his life will miss him dearly. I pray today for God to graciously provide His love, comfort, and strength to his precious wife, family, and friends during this time. And I thank the Lord today for Eric's life and how He used him to encourage and bless so many others, including me.
"For I have derived much joy and comfort from your love, my brother, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you." Philemon 7
Road trip!!
Tomorrow (Saturday) I leave on a road trip for a few days with my friends Gary, Stacy, Angela, and baby Tshepiso. I cannot possibly put into words how excited I am about this! We are driving to Gaborone with a few stops on the way. I've never been to Gabs (Botswana's capital city) and I am so looking forward to being in a city for a couple of days! We will go shopping, maybe to a movie, and hopefully go to Mugg and Bean Coffee Shop so I can get one of those cheesecakes I've been craving! :)
Please pray for our safety (9-10 hours on these African roads always needs prayer coverage!) and for many blessings in the time with my friends. All of them will be leaving me in less than a month, so I am extremely grateful for this quality time with them. I look forward to sharing stories and pictures when I return next week!
Please pray for our safety (9-10 hours on these African roads always needs prayer coverage!) and for many blessings in the time with my friends. All of them will be leaving me in less than a month, so I am extremely grateful for this quality time with them. I look forward to sharing stories and pictures when I return next week!
New perspectives and blessings
God has really blessed me the past few days with a new perspective on upcoming changes. Yes, change can be hard and even painful, but it's only really through change that we can grow. God has been growing me in many areas this year and I think much more is yet to come. I welcome the stretching if it will help me to increase my faith and bring more glory to Him. I believe He has an incredible amount of blessings in store for my next year in Botswana, including brand new friendships, experiences, and ministry opportunities. When I think of things this way, I feel excited and hopeful, and I'm encouraged by remembering that God is sovereign and His plans are perfect. Thank you so much for praying with me on this.
In other news...
In other news...
- It finally rained here in Maun! This is a huge deal when you go months and months without even a sprinkle. When the weather is hot and dry (even reaching 111 degrees last week!) you really feel the ache for rain. We had a few teasers recently, with only a few sprinkles, but thankfully we finally received our first real rain last night!
- Today I could have briefly forgotten that I am in Africa. America has been all over the news here and the center of many conversations. It's very interesting to view this election as an "outsider" and have a different viewpoint on things. It's really been a neat experience for me.
- I may be taking a little road trip the early part of next week! I haven't been to the capital city here yet (Gaborone) and Gary and Stacy will be going for a few days and invited me to come along. As long as things work out ok, it looks like we may be leaving in just a couple of days! It will be great to see more of Botswana and have some time with my precious friends before they leave next month. :(
Change
I wouldn't say I am the most comfortable person with change. God has been stretching me a lot the past couple of years to make me more flexible and open to whatever He has planned, including changes, but I still have kind of a hard time with it.
I think this year may just hold the record for the most changes within a 12 month time period ever in my life. Not only did I pack up my life, sell most of my stuff, say good-bye to family and friends and move across the world, I have also watched myself change and grow in so many ways this year. God has shown me some not-so-great areas in my life and helped to grow me in them, and He's stretched me in more ways than I can count. I've found I can do a lot more than I thought I could when I am doing things in His strength and in His ways. It hasn't always been easy at all, but I already see some of the great results of what He's been doing.
However, today I am kind of having a "change anxiety" moment. It's all kind of hitting me how much is changing in the next two months. Almost every single friend I have made here has already or will be moving in the next month and a half, including my best friends here (Gary and Stacy) and my beautiful god-daughter. One of the missionary families that I am closest to will also be moving in a few weeks. On top of that, the school year is winding down and some of my kids will not only be moving classes, they will be moving to other countries! (This is what happens when you teach at an international school in a transient town.) I am finding out now that there will also be lots of changes with boarding next year. New boarding parents, new boarding students, and it looks like the boys will be moving to another housing area so it will only be girls around here. (Who will I talk football with next year??)
If I sit and think about all of this too much, including that this will be the first Thanksgiving and Christmas away from my family, I definitely feel overwhelmed and pretty sad. But I am inspired by a verse God recently showed me in Isaiah: "Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert." Isaiah 43:18-19. God is challenging me to not hold on so tightly to the things of the past (or the present) but to hold loosely to things, knowing that God will give and take away many times in our lives. But His ways are always perfect and He's always working things out for good.
So, today I am making a choice to trust Him and wait with expectancy to see what great things He is going to do. As a good friend once told me, when God removes something or someone from your life, He is creating a void that He can fill with something or someone else. He is doing a new thing, so I'll just patiently and expectantly wait to see what all that is.
I think this year may just hold the record for the most changes within a 12 month time period ever in my life. Not only did I pack up my life, sell most of my stuff, say good-bye to family and friends and move across the world, I have also watched myself change and grow in so many ways this year. God has shown me some not-so-great areas in my life and helped to grow me in them, and He's stretched me in more ways than I can count. I've found I can do a lot more than I thought I could when I am doing things in His strength and in His ways. It hasn't always been easy at all, but I already see some of the great results of what He's been doing.
However, today I am kind of having a "change anxiety" moment. It's all kind of hitting me how much is changing in the next two months. Almost every single friend I have made here has already or will be moving in the next month and a half, including my best friends here (Gary and Stacy) and my beautiful god-daughter. One of the missionary families that I am closest to will also be moving in a few weeks. On top of that, the school year is winding down and some of my kids will not only be moving classes, they will be moving to other countries! (This is what happens when you teach at an international school in a transient town.) I am finding out now that there will also be lots of changes with boarding next year. New boarding parents, new boarding students, and it looks like the boys will be moving to another housing area so it will only be girls around here. (Who will I talk football with next year??)
If I sit and think about all of this too much, including that this will be the first Thanksgiving and Christmas away from my family, I definitely feel overwhelmed and pretty sad. But I am inspired by a verse God recently showed me in Isaiah: "Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert." Isaiah 43:18-19. God is challenging me to not hold on so tightly to the things of the past (or the present) but to hold loosely to things, knowing that God will give and take away many times in our lives. But His ways are always perfect and He's always working things out for good.
So, today I am making a choice to trust Him and wait with expectancy to see what great things He is going to do. As a good friend once told me, when God removes something or someone from your life, He is creating a void that He can fill with something or someone else. He is doing a new thing, so I'll just patiently and expectantly wait to see what all that is.
Interesting day
Today held some interesting surprises for me. When I got to my classroom this morning, I realized that the standard 4 class across the hall didn't have a teacher. The classroom teacher has been out and apparently there was some miscommunication about when she would be returning. Since we don't have a substitute system here, we just find ways to cover the classes when teachers are gone, so that was my job today.
For part of the day it worked out that at least one class would be out for music or languages and I could sit with the other, but for three hours this morning I actually walked back and forth between the classes being both a standard 4 and standard 5 teacher at the same time. It was a bit tiring but actually kind of fun! Fortunately both classes are pretty well trained and can work well independently. Here I am with my two classes today:
Standard 4 Class
Standard 5 Class
The other interesting part of my day happened as I was driving people home after work. One of the ladies lives off of a very sandy road. I've almost gotten stuck a few times and even got mildly stuck on Friday. Today I tried going a slightly different route. Bad decision. I got really stuck. Two men actually had to dig my tires out of the sand! I really wish I had a picture of that, but unfortunately I wasn't thinking about it while in the middle of the situation. Anyway, thanks to those wonderful gentlemen, my car was freed and I made it safely home in time for dinner. :)
For part of the day it worked out that at least one class would be out for music or languages and I could sit with the other, but for three hours this morning I actually walked back and forth between the classes being both a standard 4 and standard 5 teacher at the same time. It was a bit tiring but actually kind of fun! Fortunately both classes are pretty well trained and can work well independently. Here I am with my two classes today:
Standard 4 Class
Standard 5 ClassThe other interesting part of my day happened as I was driving people home after work. One of the ladies lives off of a very sandy road. I've almost gotten stuck a few times and even got mildly stuck on Friday. Today I tried going a slightly different route. Bad decision. I got really stuck. Two men actually had to dig my tires out of the sand! I really wish I had a picture of that, but unfortunately I wasn't thinking about it while in the middle of the situation. Anyway, thanks to those wonderful gentlemen, my car was freed and I made it safely home in time for dinner. :)
Youth revival
In church today, it was mentioned about how God is doing such huge things among the youth of the church and the word 'revival' was used. Truly, I believe that is what is happening around here.
If only you could be here and see the youth as they pray and worship passionately during church...but it doesn't stop there! You can walk around here at just about any time of the day and find at least one teenager doing a Bible study or devotional, you can walk by the dorm room at night and hear a room full of girls praying together every night before bed, you can see a group of guys and girls sitting around talking about God and what He is doing around them. I am now hearing of the teenagers sharing about Christ with their classmates at school!
Last night two of my girls asked if they could use my classroom to lead a Bible study for some of the boys wanting to get deeper into the Word. I walked by the classroom several times and even listened in a bit. What I saw and heard were 16 boys and the 2 girls sitting around a table with their Bibles open, reading verse by verse and discussing what they were reading. At the end of the two and a half hour study, the kids were spread out around the room in prayer. I love what He is doing among these guys!
My prayer is that He will continue to move in the hearts of these teens and that He will give them burdens for those around them. I pray that they will draw close to Him personally and as a group, that they would dig into His word and pursue His heart in times of personal prayer. I pray that they would walk in His truth and in the power He's given us. I pray that each of them would be just beginning what will be a lifelong love relationship with Him. These are the future leaders of Botswana. Exciting, isn't it? :)
If only you could be here and see the youth as they pray and worship passionately during church...but it doesn't stop there! You can walk around here at just about any time of the day and find at least one teenager doing a Bible study or devotional, you can walk by the dorm room at night and hear a room full of girls praying together every night before bed, you can see a group of guys and girls sitting around talking about God and what He is doing around them. I am now hearing of the teenagers sharing about Christ with their classmates at school!
Last night two of my girls asked if they could use my classroom to lead a Bible study for some of the boys wanting to get deeper into the Word. I walked by the classroom several times and even listened in a bit. What I saw and heard were 16 boys and the 2 girls sitting around a table with their Bibles open, reading verse by verse and discussing what they were reading. At the end of the two and a half hour study, the kids were spread out around the room in prayer. I love what He is doing among these guys!
My prayer is that He will continue to move in the hearts of these teens and that He will give them burdens for those around them. I pray that they will draw close to Him personally and as a group, that they would dig into His word and pursue His heart in times of personal prayer. I pray that they would walk in His truth and in the power He's given us. I pray that each of them would be just beginning what will be a lifelong love relationship with Him. These are the future leaders of Botswana. Exciting, isn't it? :)
Resting in God's sovereignty
I just walked by one of the rooms tonight and heard all the girls in there taking turns praying before going to sleep. This is a recent thing they have started and I love it! It has helped to remind me of how God is working among these young ladies in a real, powerful way and also brought me some needed encouragement during kind of a rough week.
Without getting into details, there are many issues we are dealing with right now in the boarding hostel. I have found myself feeling discouraged, doubting, and a bit overwhelmed. The great thing, though, is that God promises to bring good out of all things and I already see that in this situation. He’s also reminding me in a big way of His sovereignty. Nothing catches Him off guard or shocks Him. No matter what ever happens in life, He is still on the throne and it’s comforting to remember that He is in control.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)