An unexpected discovery.....

Look what I found tonight:


Um, yes, that is most definitely a scorpion in my movie case!!! Imagine my shock when I went to open the case and found this most unwelcome guest hidden in there!
In case you'd like another look:

Unfortunately this guy's life was cut very short tonight. He definitely chose the wrong place to snuggle in at.

Oh, and don't forget about my new roommate:

At least this guy is harmless...really, he is.

I only hope I don't have any other unexpected discoveries like this for a long, long time!

Praying for Jason

Today my brother, Jason, leaves for Iraq for a year. I am praying for God's great protection on him and that He would provide comfort and strength to both Jason and his wife Kristin, as well as the rest of our family while he is away.

I love you, Jason, and I'm so proud of you!

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go." Joshua 1:9

A little of this and that....

Here's a bit of random information about happenings lately:

• It is HOT right now. I mean really hot. I can't believe when I left in early August I was still wearing light sweaters during the day and heavy sweaters at night. When I returned just a month later, I was shocked at how much the weather had changed. I just looked at the forecast for next week and we are going to get up to 104 degrees one day next week! And the summer is just getting started!!
• This week I was awakened one night a little before midnight to be warned that there was a bush fire dangerously close to the mission plot and to be on guard in the case of a need for evacuation. Thankfully all turned out ok, but it was pretty scary to see the sky lit up in red and orange hues just a short distance away from where I live! For more on this story, you can read Kelly's account here.
• All the kids have headed home for our five-day holiday to celebrate Botswana's independence. (Actual Independence Day is Tuesday the 30th) Although I'll miss the kids, I am very, very excited for some time off to rest. I plan to read, take walks, spend time with friends here who I don't get to see enough of, and talk to friends back home, which is a lot easier when I am not "on duty" all evening and don't have to wake up at 5:15 am. :)
  

Here are a few fun pictures from yesterday and today. The rest have been posted in the online picasa album.

Fun times with the girls


Being cheerleaders!

We might have been a little bored :)
My students celebrating Botswana Independence Day
Sweet boys
My precious girls
Two of my students who were all snazzed up!
My whole class...I love these kids!

Emotions

This week has held many varying emotions for me. I totally love my life here and know how incredibly blessed I am to be living this life out right now. My kids are amazing and I love watching God work among them. He has also blessed me with some very special friends here in Botswana.

At the same time, sometimes I just get lonely. I miss my friends and family back home dearly. Sometimes I ache to see them, talk to them, pray with them, and get hugs. The internet is such a blessing, but when it has trouble (as was the case this week), I really feel the void left from not being able to communicate with home.

I love the Lord so much and love my relationship with Him. I know that really He should be (and is) enough for every part of me. But He has also made me a relational person, placing a very high priority on relationships. He constantly uses the people in my life to teach me, encourage me, sharpen me, challenge me, and lead me closer to Him. I am so incredibly thankful for each and every person He has put in my life.

My prayer is that He will continue building my relationships here in Botswana, too, especially providing a close, spiritual sister and friend. I also pray that in those times when I do feel lonely, that I will draw near to Him and find joy in my fellowship with Him.

My friend Maureen posted a blog post addressing a bit of the emotional roller coaster that is experienced by being a missionary. Yes, it is definitely an amazing blessing to live this life. But I also know that with this blessing comes quite a variety of emotions. Thank you for your prayers and encouragement, which really do mean so much more than you can imagine and help me so much as I work through all these emotions!

Discipleship group

Today our discipleship group started back up for the term and it was a great start! We started by setting the purpose for our group for this term. I wrote this on the board:

Lord, help me to be a:
Woman of Faith
Woman of Prayer
Woman of the Word
Woman of Worship
Woman of Love
Woman of Purity
Woman of Mission

We read over that and prayed that that would be our purpose as a group. We then had a time of Bible study, beginnning our study of Philippians. We read and discussed chapter 1, as well as Paul's circumstances surrounding him writing this book. The girls then had a time to just share verses that had ministered to them this week. This was probably my favorite part of our time. There's something so special about hearing these teenagers share God's word and how He is speaking to them through it, and then to hear them encouraging others with it, too. I love it!

We next had a small time of worship and reflection, which ended with a time of prayer. This term we will also dedicate a part of our time to praying for another country and their needs. (I have a nice little calendar that provides this information.) Today we prayed for the Congo and I think it was a great way for us to work on being "women of mission" as we focused on praying for the needs of the people in a place that none of us have even ever been to.

Our time was concluded by working on making visuals for ourselves to remember our group's purpose. So, with markers, colored paper, fun music, and girl chat time, we worked for about an hour on our little projects.

This is my finished product

This one is one of the girls'

Here is the whole group

I love these girls dearly and am so excited at how we will continue to grow together this term!

"Own Me"

I remember hearing this song by Ginny Owens years ago and it ministering to me in a powerful way. Today I listened to it again after a long time, and it ministered to me all over again.

Here are the lyrics:
"Own Me"

Got a stack of books so I could learn how to live
Many are left half-read
Covered by the cobwebs on my shelf
And I got a list of laws growing longer every day
And if I keep plugging away
Maybe one day I'll perfect myself

Oh, but all of my labor seems to be in vain
And all of my laws just cause me more pain
So I fall before You in all of my shame
Ready and willing to be changed

Own me
Take all that I am
Heal me
With the blood of the Lamb
Mold me
With Your gracious hand
Break me till I'm only Yours
Own me

Oh You call me daughter and You take my blame
And You run to meet me when I cry out Your name
So I fall before You in all of my shame
Lord, I am willing to be changed

Own me
Take all that I am
Heal me
With the blood of the Lamb
Mold me
By Your gracious hand
Break me till I'm only Yours
Own me

When I heard this song the first time, it broke me because I felt like it was written for me. I constantly struggle with feeling this need to "do" more and "better" myself. When I inevitably mess up and realize that I just can't do it in my own strength, then I realize again that all I can really do is run to Jesus, lay myself before Him and just ask Him to take all of me. Much more than He desires us to "do", He desires us to just "be", letting Him do the healing, molding, and changing. Our place is just to be one of surrender.

Highlights from the week

It is only Thursday, but already this week has had many high points. Here are a few of them:

• On Sunday I was able to sign for Monty again. I am realizing how rusty I've become and my need to practice more. I am hoping and praying for some opportunities to spend time with Monty outside of church, building that relationship and getting lots of sign practice!
• On Monday I was blessed at the immigration office with another 30 day extension with almost no problems at all. This was a huge praise!
• Tuesday was a wonderful day! One of the new teachers here, Megan, had a birthday and her husband is out of town, so we had a girls' night out with the two of us, my friend Stacy, and my new friend Kelly, who just moved here with her husband, Matt (our children's pastor). We went to a nice restaurant and had dinner, and I was able to get a yummy cafe mocha. But the best part by far was the chance to have fellowship with other girls and begin building new friendships, something I am really needing right now.
• Wednesday I began teaching a sign language class to the secondary students and I was unsure if the turn-out would be all that good. I was shocked when 34 students came! (This is a third of our whole secondary school.) I hope this will be a great chance to build more relationships with the teenagers at the school.

This week is not even over yet, but it's already been full of blessings! Another huge one that didn't actually happen here, but was a blessing to me also was that a good friend of mine in Austin, Heather, successfully went through brain surgery on Monday and is doing absolutely wonderful! My students and I have been praying a lot for her, and it's great to share this praise and blessing with them. (We love you, Heather!)

I look forward to sharing more praises soon!!