For Attractive lips, speak words of kindness.
For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people.
For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry.
For beautiful hair, let a child run their fingers through it once a day.
For poise, walk with the knowledge that you never walk alone.
People, more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed, and redeemed. Remember, if you ever need a helping hand, you will find one at the end of each of your arms.
As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands, one for helping yourself and the other for helping others.
- Sam Levenson
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An adventurer’s heart. It’s a dangerously exciting place. One that loves to try new things, meet new people and go to faraway places. Over the past few weeks I rode in a tuk tuk, ate shrimp with eyeballs, slept on an island, and met people that changed my life forever. People who love fearlessly, live boldly, and trust unwaveringly. Their faith and belief is so simple and so powerful. They have overcome obstacles bigger than most people can fathom and have walked down roads much rougher than most will ever experience. They may not have as many things as the world thinks they should have, but that doesn’t matter. I looked into their beautiful faces full of joy and saw a freedom that I’ve only tasted. I find that I am envious of them and their ability to walk in the Kingdom of God here on earth with such clarity. One of my favorite authors writes that if you could just peel back the skin of this world, you could see and walk in the Kingdom of God. The world we visibly see is far less real than the world just beyond, but so few of us access what is ours to engage with as God’s children. However, while in Cambodia, I caught a glimpse of this, and I loved what I saw and I didn’t want to leave. Perhaps we don’t desire the kingdom enough. Like the pearl of great price, we must long for it above all else. Like C.S. Lewis said, “It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.” Adventure doesn’t start when you visit a new place. Adventure begins when you allow God to open up the eyes of your heart to His Kingdom. I wish I could share every detail with you about my trip to Cambodia, but here are some of my favorite memories. 18 new believers experienced water baptism at the coast! Our sleepover at the island was complete with songs around the campfire, dinner under the stars and manicures by lamplight. What an honor to be welcomed as family! Tears and forgiveness flowed freely for all as we washed the feet of our precious friends at Sak Saum. So blessed to make lifelong friends.
"If we don't offer ourselves to the unknown, our senses dull. Our world becomes small and we lose our sense of wonder. Our eyes don't lift to the horizon; our ears don't hear the sounds around us. The edge is off our experience, and we pass our days in a routine that is both comfortable and limiting. We wake up one day and find that we have lost our dreams in order to protect our days. This is why we travel." - S. Ward Harrison I am so excited to share with you that I will be travelling to Cambodia this January with my church. I’m passionate about empowering women and girls, which is why I’m looking forward to working with the women and girls of Phnom Penh, Cambodia. We will be going to work with In His Steps International (IHSI) and Sak Saum, which is a ministry of IHSI that offers rescue, rehabilitation and restoration to vulnerable and exploited women who have experienced firsthand the devastation of trafficking. Right now, there are 100 million missing women in the world. Most of them are from third world countries like Cambodia. I am thrilled to travel to Cambodia with such a wonderful team and I know that this will be a very special trip. If you would like to make a financial contribution, you may do so here. Thank you in advance for partnering with me as I embark on this adventure of missions! Sak Saum: Who We AreLet us be women who Love.
Let us be women willing to lay down our sword words, our sharp looks, our ignorant silence and towering stance and fill the earth now with extravagant Love. Let us be women who Love. Let us be women who make room. Let us be women who open our arms and invite others into an honest, spacious, glorious embrace. Let us be women who carry each other. Let us be women who give from what we have. Let us be women who leap to do the difficult things, the unexpected things and the necessary things. Let us be women who live for Peace. Let us be women who breathe Hope. Let us be women who create beauty. Let us be women who Love. Let us be a sanctuary where God may dwell. Let us be a garden for tender souls. Let us be a table where others may feast on the goodness of God. Let us be a womb for Life to grow. Let us be women who Love. Let us rise to the questions of our time. Let us speak to the injustices in our world. Let us move the mountains of fear and intimidation. Let us shout down the walls that separate and divide. Let us fill the earth with the fragrance of Love. Let us be women who Love. Let us listen for those who have been silenced. Let us honour those who have been devalued. Let us say, Enough! with abuse, abandonment, diminishing and hiding. Let us not rest until every person is free and equal. Let us be women who Love. Let us be women who are savvy, smart and wise. Let us be women who shine with the light of God in us. Let us be women who take courage and sing the song in our hearts. Let us be women who say, Yes to the beautiful, unique purpose seeded in our souls. Let us be women who call out the song in another’s heart. Let us be women who teach our children to do the same. Let us be women who Love. Let us be women who Love, in spite of fear. Let us be women who Love, in spite of our stories. Let us be women who Love loudly, beautifully, Divinely. Let us be women who Love. By Idelette McVicker From She Loves Magazine “Happiness is the consequence of personal effort. You fight for it, strive for it, insist upon it, and sometimes even travel around the world looking for it. You have to participate relentlessly in the manifestations of your own blessings. And once you have achieved a state of happiness, you must never become lax about maintaining it. You must make a mighty effort to keep swimming upward into that happiness forever, to stay afloat on top of it.”
― Elizabeth Gilbert, Eat, Pray, Love So, I was thinking. Yes, a dangerous pastime, I know. What if… I took a year to Eat, Pray, Love. What if I took off a year of graduate school to discover what I’m really passionate about? A year to dance, read, explore, travel, seek out adventure, friendships, meaning, simplicity… To seek truth and learn to be still. To be open and to let God fan into flame the passions he has put within me. Frederick Beuchner wrote, “The place God calls us to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.” After trying to logically and analytically figure out what I should do and what I’m passionate about, I’ve decided that perhaps it’s best to just jump off this cliff in faith that He will catch me and lead me on a path that leads me to deeper discovery of Him and life. In the words of Emily from Today’s Letters, after hearing Katie speak (Kisses from Katie), “I walked away being reminded of four things: to be faithful where I am, to say YES to today, to be relentless in loving others, and to lead with authenticity because vulnerability conquers all fear.” I have always viewed life as an adventure. A play to star in. A treasure to discover. I do not want to look back and think, “Oh, I wish I would have done that.” Whether in work, play, or relationships I want to live life to the fullest and without regret. I do not want to wonder what it would have been like to be this person’s friend, or to go to this country. This is also what drives my desire to have a career that is meaningful and touches on my passions. Why waste one precious day on a job I hate? All in all, I want to value each and every day as the gift that it is. I want to treasure the friendships and relationships in each of those days because in my heart, I believe that, most often, people are life’s greatest adventures. So, here's to saying yes to today, loving others, being open to adventure, leading with authenticity and holding tight to God's hand while I walk, run, stumble and dance. From Mercy Ministries
Graduation day at Mercy is always a sacred time. There is a tangible presence of God in the room, and we all feel like we’re witnesses to miracles. This past week, two of our residents graduated and, as always, there were so many moments that stand out in our mind as we look back at the experience. We’ll likely share a few of those powerful moments over the next few weeks here at our blog, so make sure you subscribe! Katy, our amazing counselor, wrote a letter to one of our graduates and then read it aloud to her at the ceremony. This precious young woman had waged a life-long battle with perfectionism, a battle that she often lost as she daily cut her own flesh, and starved herself as punishment, even as relief from her emotional pain. Today, her life has been transformed, she is walking in freedom and wholeness. Dear K: Until now, I see the dance of your life with God as a classical ballet. Drill, form, perfection. Learning steps prescribed from hundreds of years ago. Stretching, training, denying your body, dancing till you bleed; never excellent enough, always worried about keeping in time with those around you. A half beat late or an artistic flick of the wrist is severely reprimanded by the director. Dancing Swan Lake where one error means bringing down the entire production. As an audience member, I come away from a ballet with visions of fairies dancing on a pedestal of perfection and epic soundtrack music, and the keen understanding that I am inadequate. I’ll never be able to move like that. Don’t get me wrong, I love ballet – but it is no way to live your life. Hiding, fear, restriction, perfection. You lived your life dancing for a “god” who was waiting for any chance to pounce on your inadequacies, even after a good performance, to demand you work harder and harder, never satisfied. But now… a new dance has emerged – the tango. You threw away a pair of slippers and wandered down the street until the strong beat from a studio drew you in, hanging out in the background you thought you could watch till you felt confident you’d mastered each step. But God took your hand and drew you out from that wall – he is a partner that already knows you intimately, able to predict your half-beat behindness and adjusting to your wrist flick so that it deepens the beauty of the dance. This dance is SO different. Steps are present to be sure – but the best performances, the most engaging moments, are when technique is thrown to the curb and passion rises. Daughter, there is a fire that burns inside of you, and in that, there is freedom! The God you know now is to be enjoyed, trusted because he is dancing for joy over you in the heavens. After watching a tango, I sneak into my room and turn on the soundtrack fromHavana Nights and twist and turn till my abs hurt! I don’t know the steps the professionals do – but they’ve allowed me to feel human emotion and that is something I can connect with and it inspires me. This season, honey, is not for striving. It is not for slicked hair or tutus that stand at ridged attention – it is for connecting to the heart of those who watch you, so in that process youmight find deeper the heart God has placed inside of you, and for big flowers in your hair! It was our God who made the transformation in you – and it is for that reason alone that I have full confidence that He will finish the good work he has started. Not because you know the steps so well, but because He is a generous partner. Love Katy We are so proud of you, K! You are loved. A Blast From the Past! This is a Pepsi commercial from the 1960s, but it shows much of the original Disneyland. See more Disney Commercials from the 70s and 80s here! The Snowflake Prayer
by Charles Whiston Whiston, a priest and missionary, prayed this pray every day for many years. Here is how Jeff Goins of Adventure in Missions describes Whiston's prayer: "He believed that over time, this prayer would be like one snowflake falling upon another. If you pray it once or twice, it wouldn't make much of a difference, but if you prayed it again and again, it could change your life (and the lives of others). As snowflakes compact against each other on a mountainside, they grow in density and size. Ultimately, they form a glacial mass that can chip away at the roughest pieces of rock." The snowflake prayer. O Lord Jesus Christ: In obedience to your holy claim upon me, I give myself anew to you this day; All that I am, all that I have, To be wholly and unconditionally yours for your using. Take me away from myself, And use me up As you will, When you will, Where you will, With whom you will. Amen. "It is good to be children sometimes, and never better than at Christmas, when its mighty Founder was a child himself." - Charles Dickens |