Trusting Truth

I'm a Missouri girl, so I can't think of a better place to be refreshed and renewed than Missouri in spring and early summer. Everything is blooming and the colors are vibrant with newness. Baby birds and animals are everywhere and all around you can see and hear their parents keeping vigil and finding food. Everything smells, well, like spring. It's a balm for the senses and the soul and I loved getting to enjoy the season again.

You would think with all of that newness I would have returned to Congo recharged and ready to go. The reality is that a struggle began in me before I left the states and followed me here. It didn't help that I was sick the last three of my four weeks home. That wears on a person. Missionary life has made me more acutely aware that every moment with a loved one, every walk down a favorite path, every routine activity we so often take for granted could be the last, so you better savor it. 

I didn't want to just savor the moments. I wanted to keep them. Watching my kids interacting with their cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents reminded me of all they miss when we are away. My first-born went off to college at 18 and for two years he was the only one in our immediate family on U.S. soil. When breaks and summers came and other students went home, his "home" was 7,000 miles away and unreachable. He had places he could go stay, but they weren't "home." Now my daughter is in the same predicament. My youngest struggles with isolation and life without electricity most of the time and he can't even get packages from his grandparents. 

I felt like I had cheated my children. 

Feelings cannot alway be trusted, though, and I know that. How I feel can be affected and manipulated by many things but Truth never changes. The truth is that God is our Shepherd and takes care of us as a shepherd cares for his flock.  A shepherd safely leads his flock to where they need to be to find nourishment and rest to grow strong and healthy. He carries the weak ones and the littlest ones because he knows how fragile they are and how hard the path is. God knows the path ahead of my kids and He's got them in his arms. A shepherd leads the mamas in his flock with gentleness. He knows my feelings and doesn't disregard them, but gently beckons me to trust Him. To trust Truth. 

"He tends his flocks like a shepherd: 

he gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; 

he gently leads those that have young." 

Isaiah 40:11

Planes, Trains and Automobiles

Catching up. A few weeks ago we flew out of Congo. Our destination was Missouri for our son's wedding, but since we had to have a layover in Belgium anyway, and we had not had a vacation in a long time, we extended our layover to a couple of days so that we could see a bit of Belgium.

I was completely enchanted with Belgium. It was my first experience in any part of Europe. I like old things, and there are lots of old things there. I like chocolate. Belgium does chocolate very well. We saw chocolatiers everywhere and I would have liked to visit all of them. 

We only had two days, so the first day we took a train (my first train ride!) to Brussels Central and spent the day doing a walking tour of the older part of town. All of the streets here were narrow, winding, and cobble-stoned. The buildings were ancient and bold, yet charming. A strange mix of gargoyles and window boxes, towers and ivy. 

For day two we rented a car and drove to the city of Brugges. It was cold and rainy and we REALLY appreciated the lunch and hot drinks we bought in the little cafes. I loved touring the old buildings and churches. One church, St. Salvator's, dates to the 12th century and contains breathtaking art pieces. 

I also fell in love with the canals in Brugges. 

In spite of temps in the forties and almost constant rain, we had a wonderful time and would have stayed longer if we could have. 

Stitches Tell Stories

Every quilt has a story. I began this quilt in Tulsa, OK. We were preparing for the mission field and David was in school full-time, so my fabric budget was pretty limited. The best way to keep enjoying my new hobby and learning new skills was to do those $5-$10 block of the month clubs at the fabric stores. I did them all  - three different stores – simultaneously. One of those was this quilt.

We moved to Florida, then Missouri. In each place I worked a little on the quilt top but never finished. Other quilts took priority because they were gifts for other people. Eventually we moved to Quebec, Canada to attend French language school. We had to fit everything we owned for a family of five into a mini-van, which called for some serious paring down, but I managed to fit my sewing machine and quilt blocks! While we were there, I finally completed the top. I packed her up and took her to Africa, thinking that I would quilt it there.

We only have power about 30% of the time in Kinshasa. When the electricity is on I find myself racing to get laundry, school stuff, baking, bill paying, blogging, correspondence, etc done before it goes off again.  I began to wonder if I was EVER going to finish it. David suggested I send it back to the states and have someone quilt it for me. When our son came to visit for Christmas, I did send it back with him, but it went into storage for a while, waiting for me to decide what to do with it.

During our time in Florida, a friend from our college days was going to be nearby for a conference and asked if we’d like to drive up to see him and meet his family. We had not seen Darren in over fifteen years and were very excited. I liked his wife Marcia instantly. It was so fun to discover how much we have in common and we parted feeling like we had been friends for much longer than just an evening. We’ve kept in touch ever since. Once I made the decision to have my quilt done by someone else, Marcia was the obvious choice. I trusted her and I had been admiring her work for some time via her blog.

This quilt has journeyed across the U.S. and the ocean with me and I have a lot in common with her. We are both a work in progress, a slow progression getting a little closer to being useful and beautiful at each stop along the way. Neither of us are the same as we were seven years ago when I began working on this quilt.

I named her “Je me souviens,” which means “I remember,” because she reminds me that through the years I spent finishing her I made new friends, reconnected with old friends, learned new skills, travelled to new places, learned a new language, lived at seven different addresses, encountered two new cultures, faced several challenges, and said many goodbyes. She’s even more special now because of the love and talent stitched into her by my friend Marcia – a constant reminder of our friendship even though we both worked on her at different times and in different places. 

Here is a pic of the back of my quilt. It's almost a quilt all by itself! The photo really doesn't do justice to all the detail and colors. 

Marcia also graciously allowed me to use her photos. 

You can read her blog and see some of the other work she has done by clicking HERE.

You can shop in Marcia's store by clicking HERE.

Stitches tell stories, and this quilt has a lot of both!

Cookies and Other Treats

We finally made it to Missouri! We spent a few days with my family and had a lot of fun catching up with each other. We visited an old family friend who still lives on the street where I grew up. That's the house I grew up in above, except that when I was there we had grass instead of wood chips.

We visited a few of our favorite places from when we were growing up, including our favorite mom and pop pizza place, our favorite frozen custard place, and a cookie company, which I was happy to see is still in business. They still sell cookies by the pound and wrap them in brown bags tied with twine. And the cookies still taste great, especially dipped in coffee or milk.

There is so much to do in St. Louis and so many people we love there that we will have to go back more than once, I'm sure. Daniel has never been to the Arch or the zoo and I want to go to a Cardinals game.

We drove to Kirksville to see Josh!

The next day, we went to a reunion at the Truman State University Baptist Student Union. The friendships we found there during our college days are priceless and many of those friends still keep in touch. I had a blast and it was a real treat to see so many dear friends. The only downside was that there was too little time. 

We were told to get some rest, and we have been. We are enjoying sweet reunions with loved ones and still have lots more folks we want to see. We are staying with friends who love us and want to pamper us and make sure we go back to Africa refreshed and ready.

As if all of that wasn't already wonderful enough, to top it off, my friend Marcia brought my quilt for me, so now I have it in my hot little hands and I love it! More about that in the next post.

The Announcements Song

photo: public domain (www.reusableart.com)

I probably couldn't list all of the benefits I received from being involved in the Baptist Student Union during my college years at Truman State (formerly NMSU): Christian friends, discipleship, accountability, fellowship and encouragement would be at the top of the list. But there were other, less obvious benefits as well. Joining the BSU gave me lots of new potential victims for my practical jokes, and I took full advantage of it. It gave me a chance to learn leadership skills and disciple others. Many of the precious friendships I made during those four years still survive today, over twenty years later, in spite of the different directions we all ended up going.

AND! The BSU is where I learned the announcement song:

Announcements! Announcements! Announcements!
A terrible death to die!
A terrible death to die!
A terrible death to be talked to death!
A terrible death to die!

The announcement song is sort of like "It's a Small World" and the Barney love song.  They are nonsensical and irritating, yet they somehow permanently etch themselves into one's memory. I think they would be better combined into one song.

"with a great big hug and a kiss and a kiss from me to you - a terrible death to die! a terrible death to die!- but it's a small world after all!"

Okay, maybe not.

I promise not to talk or write you to death, but I do have some announcements!

1. I have made some changes to the blog and now I am shamelessly drawing attention to them.  As you can see above, just under the title banner, I've added page links for our newsletters and for media.  For now only our four most recent newsletters are up because MAF only keeps that many up on our web site and I haven't yet learned how and where to store files out there in cyberspace to link to. The media page contains links to articles, blog posts, and videos about MAF, especially in relation to where we serve here in the Congo. You should definitely go check out the new video if you haven't yet. We got to have the guys who created it over for dinner and then I took one of them with us to the orphanage.  They are neat guys, a father and son team, and they did a top-notch job.

2. We are going to Kenya! MAF missionaries live in challenging conditions 24/7 and MAF takes member care seriously. We can't be effective in ministry if we are "running on empty" spiritually or physically. Each year we have a family conference, sort of a concentrated sabbath rest.  We spend time in worship, discipleship, fellowship, building team unity, and de-stressing. Normally each team holds their own conference where they are located. MAF has missionaries in three different locations in DRC: Kinshasa, Lubumbashi, and Bunia.  Because of the nature of our ministry, serving people in remote places, the folks from these three bases haven't even all met each other.  This year we will get to meet our fellow workers in DRC because the three groups are pooling resources and combining for this year's family conference and meeting in Kenya next week.  A team from the U.S. is coming in to lead the conference. We are looking forward to meeting our fellow MAF missionaries, having a few days of steady electricity, getting some rest, having a little fun, worship time and Bible study.

3. I don't know how much free time I will have or what kind of internet I will have, so I might not be posting on the blog before we get back.

4. Please pray for the missionaries attending not just our conference but all of the MAF family conferences this year. The conferences really do make a difference and give us sort of a "recharge." They provide times for healing, encouragement, and affirmation. Pray for the volunteers who give up so much to come and minister to missionaries. And pray for the MK's, the missionary kids. They need rejuvenation and encouragement too and the conference will include programs for the kids and teens.

Happy Feet Helping Congo Women

I almost always update the blog on Saturday mornings, but this Saturday morning I will be participating once again in a 5K Run/Walk to help women of Congo.  I have to because this morning I made St. Louis Gooey Butter Cake and each piece is about six million calories.  Just kidding.  I was going to do the run anyway.

My main motive for participating is because this is a fundraiser for the women in this country.  We see the news headlines proclaiming that Congo is the rape capital of the world, women have no rights, etc.  This is a chance to be involved in something positive that will help women.  This year the fundraiser is for the FFC, Fonds pour les Femmes Congolaise (Foundation for Congolese Women).  The FFC is a support organization for the promotion and defense of the rights of women and girls, especially the right to live without violence.

my feet last August

Several months ago I wasn’t sure I would ever be able to put on my tennis shoes and walk five kilometers again.  My feet hurt just crossing the room.  Even after my foot surgery, it was a few more months before I could wear tennis shoes.  Now I am back to doing my power walk dvd’s and playing softball on weekends and feeling very, very grateful for my feet.  Lots of people prayed for me and helped make it possible for us to get my feet taken care of .  It gives me great pleasure to be able to use my feet to help someone else now.

Why am I making gooey butter cake?  Partly because my daughter is bringing home a dinner guest from school today.  Partly because my freezer is broken and I had cream cheese thawed out.  Cream cheese costs way too much here to let it be wasted.  And partly because I am proud of my St. Louis upbringing and feeling a wee bit homesick.  Here’s a salute to all my St. Louis friends!

Hopefully the run/walk will raise a lot of money and awareness.  Please say a prayer for the women of Congo.  

Projects

I finished it! And he likes it! This quilt took WAY too long and it's my fault. But it has a history that Josh appreciates. It began as a block of the month project at Hancock's in Tulsa in 2005. I started it for Josh because the theme is Lewis & Clark and in our home school, that was one of his favorite topics of study. I didn't even get to finish all twelve months in the club because we moved halfway through the year, so a friend had to mail each month's block kit and instructions to me. Since I began it, we have moved to Florida, Missouri, Canada, back to Missouri, Idaho, and Africa; went back to school, became missionaries with MAF, raised ministry support, driven all over the U.S., "learned French", and adjusted to new cultures. Emily owns the very first quilt I made. Daniel gets the next one. I told him he could choose the pattern and colors but I'm tired of appliqué!
Josh also finished a project this week. He built a fort for Daniel. He cut the bamboo himself with a machete. Our guard Jacques showed Josh how to split the bamboo with the machete and helped with the digging. He (Jacques) told me that in his village people place sticks in the ground like Josh's bamboo, then pack the walls with mud to build their homes, or they make their own bricks out of mud. The roofs are thatched, whereas Josh recycled a piece of plywood from the crate David built for our shipment over here.

Back in the U.S.A.

We're back! We crossed the border into the U.S. on June 30th, our 20th wedding anniversary, and arrived at my sister-in-law's home happy but tired. We left the kids with my in-laws and went to a nearby small town B&B to celebrate our anniversary. In case you think the kids got jilted, their aunt and uncle treated them to laser tag, a movie, shopping, and all the junk food any kid could want. It was good for all of us. We are now in Missouri, packing and working on ministry support. It feels kinda wierd going through the checkout line at the store with enough unscented solid deodorant, vitamins, and tylenol to last a family of five for two years. It does make people stare. It also felt a little wierd the first time we went into a store and everything we heard was in English.  That didn't even happen when we lived in Florida, let alone Québec.

Sometimes you need to stop and smell the roses, so on our way down from Canada, we stopped at Niagara Falls. I had been to see the falls years ago, on my senior trip, and wanted to share it with David and the kids.

A Great St. Louis Recipe

Image via Wikipedia

I guess I am on a recipe roll. I expressed a desire on Facebook to bake a St. Louis Gooey Butter Cake and received some requests for the recipe. Yes, it did originate in St. Louis, in the 1930's. I have also heard this recipe called "butter chewies", but since it did originate in St. Louis, I prefer to call it by it's proper name. I grew up in St. Louis and while I am proud of my heritage, this recipe is a favorite of mine by its own delicious merit. Cut the pieces small - it is very rich.  It goes great with coffee!

St. Louis Gooey Butter Cake

1/2 cup butter
3 eggs
1/2 tsp almond extract (Vanilla extract can be subsituted but is not as tasty.)
1 box yellow cake mix
8 oz cream cheese, softened
4 cups powdered sugar, plus a little extra
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x13 pan. Melt butter. Empty Cake mix into a large bowl. Stir in butter and one of the eggs. Press mixture into pan. In separate bowl, mix cream cheese, almond extract, 4 cups powdered sugar and remaining two eggs. Beat for three minutes on medium speed. Spread in pan. Bake for 35-45 minutes until golden brown on top. The cake will be gooey on top, so don't over bake! Allow cake to cool, then dust with more powdered sugar.

Praying Scripture

I like to pray Scripture verses. It's something I learned from one of the Beth Moore Bible studies I have done. When I first heard someone use Scripture in prayer, it seemed new and different to me, but I realized that as long as it is in correct context, what better way to know you are praying in line with God's will? And there are so many amazing verses of praise to God that I can use to lift up His name! It has also helped me to become better at memorizing Scripture. Imagine being in the middle of a prayer and telling God to hang on a minute while I find that verse I wanted to talk with Him about. Praying Scripture really added a new dimension to my prayer life. Recently God gave me Psalm 63:1 to pray for myself and my family: "O God, You are my God, earnestly I seek You; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for You, in a dry and weary land where there is no water." I pray my children will earnestly seek Him and that they will have a longing and a thirst for Him. I also pray that anything other than God that they might turn to for satisfaction in life will be like David's "dry and weary land" and will cause them to turn back to God for true satiety. I'll just share one more. Proverbs 21:1 states "The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD; He directs it like a watercourse wherever He pleases." I am praying this for our nation's leaders, all of them. Whether I voted for them or not, whether they are Christians or not, God is in control. So I pray He will direct their hearts for His glory and the good of our nation.

A week or so ago we went up to Columbia, Missouri for part of our ministry partnership to meet with some families and old friends. It was a great time of renewing friendships and we were so blessed to get to fellowship and pray with people who have meant so much to us over the years. One friend took this photo of us before we left. No, Daniel did not have a growth spurt. He is standing on the hearth.