Me with my little Blessings on the swing in the little playground at the resturant. 

Aclose up of us.. he put the hat on himself that way! 

Playing on the swing  

Getting ready to go get Ice cream and play 

Missed opportunities

At this very moment I am reminded how truly inadequate I am. Praise the Lord for the reminder ahead of time of where my adequacy is to come from, because I am truly not!

I have, had, a friend who lived across the street. Her husband was living in France and she was living here with her inlaws. Unfortunately the past few months have been so busy with school and the children, that I have not had much chance to visit her. When I did try to visit, she was never there. She had asked me in the past to pray for her to be able to join her husband. Despite not seeing her for a while, I had not forgotten her nor stopped praying for her. I found out this weekend though that she has gone to live with him in France. I praise the Lord for her being able to be there, but I mourn that my chance to share with her anymore is gone. I weep for missed opportunities, but I trust that she will come across someone that will share the Truth with her.

More overwhelming is the news I received this morning. In a neighboring household, a young man, maybe Rich's age with a wife an children, passed away yesterday morning. During their month of fasting last year, we had been over at their house one evening. We did not stay overly long because it was getting late for the children, but still an opportunity passed by. We know this man's younger brother better and I sort of know this man's wife. Had we shared more with one of them, maybe they would have come to faith and shared with him. Now it is too late for him, but there is still time for the rest of the family. Where do I start? It would be so easy to cast blame to someone else, like Adam and Eve tried to do, but I still bear the guilt for this man's blood.

In the states, with the abundance of churches, it is easy to tell yourself that the person at the grocery store or McDonald's has heard the truth---but it is not a given! Yes, the chances of me talking to a person who does not yet know the Lord here are greater, but it does happen there. The people here live their lives hoping their good outweighs their bad, whereas those in the states often don't see a difference in the lives of Christians around them that makes them want to know the Lord.

Who will you see today that needs desperately to hear the good news? Will each of us seize the moments we are given this very day? We have good news to share. Share it!!

Being Adequate!!

I just wanted to share a word of encouragement with all of you today. Have you ever thought you had said something different or more or seized the moment more or not been sure your language conveyed all you wanted it to? I am doing a Bible study by Kay Arthur on 2 Corinthians called, “Lord, Give me a heart for You.” Last week’s chapter was on being adequate, particularly focusing on 2:15-16 and 3:5-6. Arthur says it this way, “Your adequacy will never come from anything you can ever do or be apart from Christ. Your adequacy will come only from God.” What a blessing and a relief! God is bigger than anything I can do to “’mess” Him up. I will never be adequate enough in myself to do the job He has called me to do, but He is always adequate and makes me so. Another encouragement to me lately has been Beth Moore’s Voices of the Faithful devotional, particularly since this month’s focus is missions, but there is just too much to share right now.
For now lets all pray that we will remember where our adequacy originates.

William still playing on the couch with Mariama. He picked mimself up and kept going (see Rich's blog for first video).

Me and William reading and counting.

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William climed into my lap after lunch yesterday and wanted me to read his book with him. Mariama is playing in her swing you get to see her some too. We may start posting more things this way, so you can see and hear us more. Plus it is faster and more fun then us typing.

A visit

Hi there

I just had to share with you all about my visit at the B. household yesterday. I was doing the story of Adam and Eve sinning. I did it on tape especially after I found out I had a time limit because of Madam B having a previous engagement. It was her with three of her daughters and one son. We listened to the scriptures and the story and then the questions. I jumped ahead a little, please forgive me, but I felt lead to cover why the clothes of leaves were not good enough. So I brought up Tabaski and the shedding of blood for sin. One of the daughters asked if I really believed that God instructed the sacrifice for the sin. I said yes, but I could see confusion in her eyes as she kept asking me over and over again if I really believed it. I wanted so badly to tell the whole story right there but was not sure how and where the others were at in all of this. I said that yes, God’s word says that there is no forgiveness without the shedding of blood, but…..I believe that the blood has been spilt to completion. We wrapped up the story session, with even another young man coming in during the story as well as their househelper. She and all her children, except maybe the youngest daughter, answered questions, especially the son and the daughter who pressed me. Because Madam B. had to get ready to go, the daughter who kept asking me and who I have a pretty good relationship walked me out. She was still in awe of what I said because we do not sacrifice. I told her I want to tell her more if she wants to know, but I need to pray and seek out the words to tell her. It was amazing to see the look in her eyes, like she had never heard that from a Christian, but it is crucial to know what is required before we can know it has been paid. Anyway, just wanted to let you know to keep praying.

It looks like Thursday after lunch will be the best time for me to go visit with them so PLEASE be praying for me and for them on that day. Pray that the words will be given to me and for their hearts and minds to be opened.