A SUMMER OF BLESSINGS !

I got to do some very incredible things this summer and I think the best way to show you is in pictures.  I am so thankful for my family and friends and the time I got to spend with them this summer.

Got to spend lots of time with the kiddos doing tons of fun things :)



I spent a week in Canada backpacking and canoeing with these wonderful people.
It was so fun to spend time enjoying God's creation!

One of the beautiful views in Canada.

Had a great time picking blueberries and eating them with some friends.

sweet seats at the Phillies game with my dad for his birthday
along with my sister, brother-in-law, and friend Steph.

Very hot night and unfortunately the Phillies got crushed

Housemates together for the last time at least for awhile at
Winston and Ali's wedding.

My brother making kettle corn after a day of
doing corn with the family.

Family fun time riding some sweet peddle go carts.
Katie (my sister-in-law) some how managed to stay out of
all the photos.

We are not competitive at all :)

Corn, corn, and more corn

Sarah and Emily got to drive this tractor on the
farm I grew up!



My sister and I after climbing one thousand steps.
Katie went with us also, but once again got out of the picture.

 



As you can see I had a great summer.  This doesn't even show everything I got to do, because I am not very good at taking pictures.  Thank you so much to all of you who gave so generously to me throughout the summer.  As I settle back into my house in DAR and reflect over the summer I have really realized how very, very, very, very blessed I am to have so many people behind me as I serve here.

THANK YOU SO MUCH!  

Easter Messages Spoken Via the Zambezi Swing

The video above is a little taste of one of the things that I got to do during our Easter Break trip.  Three of us on the trip made the 170 foot plunge into the gorge.  I am extremely afraid of heights, so the first trip I decided needed to be with someone else attached to me (Danielle, my housemate, was that lucky person:).  I was sure I wouldn't do it again, but during the walk out I convinced myself I could take that one little step and enjoy the free fall experience again :) 

In the words of Sarah Deal, my housemate, "it was an exhilarating experience, which God used to remind me of a few things in His character.  He used Kulu, the man who you see in the video clip, to demonstrate these things."

The list below was written by Sarah Deal, but reflects what we all took away from that day. 


1.  Trust the speaker, who has earned the trust by what he has shown.  His voice is sure, clear, strong, and under control. 
     
Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail.  They are new every morning, great is your faithfulness.  Lamentations 3:22-23

2.  Listen.  Don't dwell on it.  Just obey 3-2-1 step...then it's exhilarating.

The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him, and I am helped.  My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to Him in song. Psalm 28:7

3.  I think it would be harder to step if you had doubted and faltered the first time.

4.  Yet He firmly and kindly assures and guides those who falter...lifts the chin, asks them to look in his eyes, and leads them through, nudges even.

The Lord makes firm the steps of the one who delights in Him; though he may stumble, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with His hand.  Psalm 37:23-24

5.  He treats each one differently, as needed.

For you created my inmost being, you knit me together in my mother's womb.       Psalm 139:13

6.  The first moments after the step are the scariest, most exhilarating.  Then it is joy.  Joy to see the creation around you and to know you stepped.

Blessed is the one...whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night.  That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season... Psalm 1:1-3

7.  But during those scary moments you can't go back.  You already stepped in faith.  It is out of your hands and in the hands of what and who you have trusted.

Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.  He who calls you is faithful, who will also do it.  1 Thessalonians 5:23,24

SERVICE EMPHASIS WEEK 2013



Romans 15: 1-13
 Those of us who are strong and able in the faith need to step in and lend a hand to those who falter, and not just do what is most convenient for us. Strength is for service, not status. Each one of us needs to look after the good of the people around us, asking ourselves, “How can I help?”
That’s exactly what Jesus did. He didn’t make it easy for himself by avoiding people’s troubles, but waded right in and helped out. “I took on the troubles of the troubled,” is the way Scripture puts it. Even if it was written in Scripture long ago, you can be sure it’s written for us. God wants the combination of his steady, constant calling and warm, personal counsel in Scripture to come to characterize us, keeping us alert for whatever he will do next. May our dependably steady and warmly personal God develop maturity in you so that you get along with each other as well as Jesus gets along with us all. Then we’ll be a choir—not our voices only, but our very lives singing in harmony in a stunning anthem to the God and Father of our Master Jesus!
 So reach out and welcome one another to God’s glory. Jesus did it; now you do it! 

One of my favorite weeks at HOPAC is service emphasis week.  The secondary school shuts down for a few days and sends students out all over Tanzania to serve.  I had the opportunity this year to go with a group of 11th and 12th grade students along with Mr. Mendo to Dodoma, Tanzania.  In Dodoma we worked with the Safina Street kids project.  This ministry provides a place for street kids to come each afternoon for a devotional time and a meal.  They also have two houses that they are able to place some children in to get them off the street.  The one house is up and running, but the other one is still being built.  The first few days we were there we had the opportunity to just hang out with the kids.  We played a soccer game against them on Saturday and then on Sunday they came to the place we were staying for lunch and a movie.  Monday and Tuesday were manual labor days as we went to work leveling out some piles of dirt for the soccer field where the two houses are, and digging a hole for a sewage system for the house that is still being built.  It is always fun to get out of the classroom setting with students and have the opportunity to serve alongside of them. 

Here is a video to give you an idea of what our week looked like :) 

 

 

WHAT TYPE OF PERSON ARE YOU?

A little over a week ago I was challenged with this question, and it has stuck with me ever since.  Every year our students get the opportunity to step out of the school setting and participate in what we call Service Emphasis Week (SEW).  Every week through out the year we have an assembly on Monday mornings for the secondary school.  The two weeks before SEW we usually have assemblies that help to prepare and encourage the kids before going out to serve. 
  This year the assembly was lead by Steve Larmey.  He is a missionary here in Tanzania along with his wife and 4 kids, working with Young Life.  He talked about three types of people that are out in the World these days.  They are the I have to, I want to and I get to people. 
  It made me think about my attitude and how I function on a day to day basis.  To often I think about things in a "I have to" mentality.  I have to get out of bed in the morning when the alarm goes off.  I have to go to work.  I have to teach in the hot, humid weather.  The list can go on and on of the things that "I have" to do. 
  Steve challenged us though to think about things with the "I get" to mentality.  I get to go to school and teach every morning.  I get to teach kids to appreciate exercising, even in a place that is hot and humid.  I get to serve God in Tanzania and be apart of what He is doing in this part of the World.  As I served alongside the kids from Saturday to Tuesday the following week I found myself really thinking about the "I get to" mentality.  It was amazing how much it could change my attitude just by thinking about life in that way. 
  I challenge you to go throughout your day and think about things that you "get to do", because of where God has placed you.  It is easy to fall into the I have to or I want to thought pattern, but I have realized how much more joy I have throughout the day when I focus on the day through the perspective of "I GET TO".  I am thankful for this challenge that was presented to me before I GOT TO go out and serve for a few days with an amazing group of students....see the next blog for more on that.


WHAT DO YOU GET TO DO TODAY? 

KILIMANJARO HALF MARATHON WEEKEND

Last weekend I had the awesome opportunity to travel to the town of Moshi, Tanzania and check something off my bucket list.  For years now I have dreamed of running a half-marathon, but figured that after surgery on my legs it probably would not be the smartest thing to put on that many miles.  Then one of my friends told a group of us she was training to run the Kilimanjaro Marathon and she would love to get a group together to go for the weekend.  There was a little talk in those early months about possibly training for the half, but I soon gave that up thinking there was no way I could do it.  I figured I would settle for running the 5K fun run.  Long story short about 4 weeks before the race I decided I could do it.  I had been running 3 or 4 times a week, but really had not been doing long runs.  I decided to go out and see if I could do an 8 mile run and if I could do that I figured I would give the half-marathon a try.  I did that and the next week I did a 10 mile run, so I was ready to go  It was an amazing run.  The first 6.5 miles were uphill, for the most part it was a gradual uphill, until the end.  My goal was to run the whole thing, but as much as  I tell myself I was still running at mile 6 it probably looked like a walk as I struggled to finish the last part of the uphill before the turn around.  It was an extremely fun and beautiful run. One of the highlights was seeing all the amazingly fast Kenyan and Tanzanian runners.  It was a little crazy to have the fast marathon runners pass me as I was on the downhill part of the half-marathon.  It was incredible to run through small towns with adults and kids out cheering for us as we passed.  Also enjoyed just running through the beautiful countryside.  It was a little crazy to run up to a water station and have a person try to hand me some Coke to drink.  I probably gave them a bit of an odd look and proceeded to keep running.  They did also have some water, so I was thankful for that.  I can't say I wasn't warned about the Coke hand-outs, but I was still a little taken back by it. :)  Overall it was a fun weekend with great friends, amazing views, and cooler temperatures.  See some pictures from the weekend below....



Our view of Mount Kilimanjaro the first morning.

The town of Moshi

Pasta dinner the night before the race

On our way to register for the race on Saturday

Lauren was already off and running the marathon!
This is all of us before running the half. Ali (far left)
and I went into this weekend planning on running the half-marathon.
the other 4 were planning on doing the 5K, until
breakfast on Saturday morning the two girls on the
right decided "why not try the half-marathon for fun" :)
So they convinced the others and THEY DID IT ! 

The marathon runners who passed me out as I ran the
half-marathon. 



I FINISHED :)

The group of runners plus Ben who took all the
amazing pictures along the way.

The celebration meal...all you can eat meat!



A piece of humble pie

One thing I really enjoy doing here is running.  It gives me time to enjoy God's creation, exercise, pray, and think about all sorts of things.  I was out for one of my normal runs on last Thursday, listening to some good music, and thinking about life in general.  As I was running I stumbled and almost fell, but I caught myself and I kept running.  I looked around to see if anyone saw me stumble, and was relieved to see that it was just me.  I continued on my little run thinking good I saved myself from that fall, that could have really hurt.  I was feeling a bit tired, but decided it was time to push myself a bit and run up the bigger hill for the second time.  I got about 3/4 of the way up the hill and was just about to pass the masai guards that were walking up the hill to start their shift to guard our house and a few of our neighbors houses, and thats when it happened.  I totally didn't lift my feet high enough and I went splat on the ground.  I quickly jumped back up and ran on.  The guards asked if  I was ok and I quickly responded, and went running on my way.  Once I got pass them I could hear them having a good laught about the white person that literally just went splat on the ground.  I had a bloody finger and knee, and was scraped up, but most of all my pride was hurt.  I am pretty sure that I finished running up that hill faster than I have ever run up that hill before. 

Why share this story with the world!  I was completely served a piece of humble pie, but why share this story with everyone.  It's because I believe there is a lesson in it for me, and maybe for you.  The first time I stumbled I saved myself, right?  I stumbled, but I didn't fall down, and guess what no one saw it.  I didn't fall no harm done to myself, and I couldn't be "judged", because there wasn't anyone there to see me stumble.  How many times in life do I stumble, I make mistakes, I mess up, but I think I can save myself.  I will try harder next time.  There wasn't anyone around who saw that, so I am ok I can just move on under my own power. 

The next time I fell on my run, it was in the middle of people and I was injured.  I stumbled and I didn't catch myself this time.  This time it was noticed.  I messed up and others saw it.  What happens in life when this happens?  How often do we think we can pick ourselves up and brush ourselves off, until someone else notices and then what?  I feel there are so many lessons in this for me, but one is that God is there no matter what to pick us up and help us continue up the hill.  Even when we fall from our own mistakes and our own doings (not picking up my feet to get over the rock ), God will pick us up, clean us up, and help us heal if we allow him to.  We have to allow his love and grace to rain down on us, and keep running towards Him, even if there are others looking at us and laughing because we fell.    God loves us messy, broken, bloody, and beatup, we do not have to clean ourselves up for Him to love us, but we must surrender to Him to allow the purification process to begin to take place.

This brings me to the healing process.  As I got back to my room I assessed the damage ( I didn't stop long enough to know really how scraped up I was), I saw some small cuts.  One thing you really have to be careful about here is infection from any small cuts.  My finger cuts were the deepest, so I knew I was going to have scrub it to get the dirt out.  I also knew that was just going to make it sting more, but getting the dirt out was important so infection would not set in.  This goes right along with the healing process that God sometimes has to take us through. There are times that we stumble and fall in our lives.  We mess up and make a mess of our lives, but God is right there to pick us up, if we are willing to admit we have stumbled and allow Him to move in and help us.  The process isn't easy, it is hard and often times very painful, but in order for us to become purified this needs to happen.  God loves us through the process and walks with us, but it  can still hurt.  In the end though, God can completely heal us and makes us more like Him in the process.

Then your light shall break forth like the morning, Your healing shall spring forth speedily, And your righteousness shall go before you; The glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard.  Isaiah 58:8

CHRISTMAS VACATION

Although it has been a week since I returned, I figured my first post for the year should be about my Christmas vacation.  The first part of this school year was so jammed packed full and busy I was so excited for Christmas vacation for a break.  I was also very excited for Christmas vacation for time to spend with family and friends.  I am so thankful that I was able to travel back to the states this year for Christmas.  It was good to be with my family on Christmas day.  I believe that pictures always tell stories the best so the pictures below give a glimpse of what I was able to do over the break. 

One of the things I really was hoping for over the break was snow :)
It snowed three different times.  This was at my parents house.
The new house doesn't have the hill we use to have, but
it was just enough to provide some fun for us all.
On the sled in this picture is my sister, my 3 nieces, 1 nephew,
and myself.  My dad is holding us back before sending us down the hill.

We had a blast building snowmen in the front yard of my parents house!

Christmas Day.  The kids being the Little Rascals!

For my niece Brooke's birthday, which was in November,
I told her I would take her to Hershey Park Christmas Candylane.
We had a blast, but as you can see it was super cold out. 

My nephew Jude opening up the Christmas present I got him. 
One of my families traditions is to open gifts one at a time,
starting with the youngest.  It makes the gift opening last longer,
and we give them a little time to enjoy that one gift before giving them another one.

 

I am thankful for all I got to do over break and all the people that I got to do things with.  For some reason I really only have pictures of the things I did with the kids :) 

 

Some of my other highlights:

        *  seeing the Broadway show Annie in New York City on the day I arrived back

        *  seeing Jonah at Sight and Sound

        *  watching my brother-in-law star in a production at his church 

        * running on Christmas Eve with my sister-in-law Katie in the snow, although it was a bit cold it was refreshing...can you tell I love snow!

        * relaxing in front of the T.V. on Sunday afternoons watching the Steelers play football, although it was disappointing that they didn't make the playoffs.

        * going to Faith Church

        * making a gingerbread house with my niece Bekka at her school

        * participating in my niece Brooke's Polar Express party

        * hanging out with friends on New Years Eve and realizing we are getting old because we had no desire to stay up until mid-night

        * going out to eat at many different places and enjoying my mom's home cooked meals

        * going to a basketball practice and teaming up with a bunch of the kids I coached to play against the current team

        * visiting the school where I thought at before coming to Tanzania

        * seeing one of my formal basketball players play in a college game

 

and the many, many, many more things that I did that I am not remembering right now.  I am so thankful for the wonderful family and friend that I have back in the States and for the time that I got to spend with each one of you over the break.  Thank you all for the gifts that you showered upon me and for the time that you spent with me. 

 

Now it is back to work :)