Destination: Nkara, part 1

We set off on Friday to visit our dear friends Jim and Nancy Smith. The Smiths have served in the Nkara area of the Bandundu province for many years and still spend a good part of each year here in the Congo.  When they are here, they live in the home that Jim's father built, and oversee a Bible school and a literacy center for women.  They also work in evangelism and operate a Christian radio station.

Friday was a day of firsts for us. For the first time since arriving here in October 2010, our family was leaving Kinshasa together.  A sad first for me was realizing that this was our first big family event without Josh there to enjoy it with us.  Emily, Daniel, and I were taking our first ride in an MAF plane. We got to experience what it is like for an MAF passenger to go through the airport - including getting weighed.  You can't lie about your weight because the scale is right there in the office!  An overweight plane is a huge safety risk. So we all had our first public weigh-in. (insert smiley emoticon here)

Before we even got on the plane, I was blessed to get to meet Miriam Noyes.  Miriam and her husband Ed are missionaries who live and work a few miles outside of Vanga.  Miriam was taking the MAF plane home, so while we waited we got to talk and get to know each other a little bit.

Here are a few photos from day one of our trip.

The Cessna 206 we flew out in, "Mike Romeo." After hearing David talk about repairs and inspections he has done on each of the planes, it was pretty cool to get to ride in one, even for a person who is not fond of flying in small planes.

I wasn't the only one who was excited to be on our way to Nkara!

The trees grow where the water collects, in the low places.  Being a quilter, this view made me think of stippling, as if the land were a giant quilt.

This house was built by Jim's dad. Jim met us at the runway and drove us to the house, where a big breakfast was waiting for us.  Nkara is a MYOE place (make your own electricity).  The Smith's have a generator for their well, another for the house, and a battery powered water pump so that they can have water inside the house even when the generator is not on.  They run the generator for a few hours each evening to charge batteries and have lights.  The refrigerator and stove run on propane, and they have a ringer washer.  Nancy Smith told us that she thinks it is easier in some ways to live in the interior because the electricity in Kinshasa is so random and at her house it is very predictable since there is none except for the generator.

After breakfast we looked around a bit and spent some time just relaxing and visiting with the Smiths.  In the evenings while the generator was on, we watched a video.  It is not as hot in Nkara as it is in Kinshasa so we slept pretty comfortably even without power, but we had battery powered fans if we needed them.

To be continued....

part 2

part 3

part 4

Pass the rejection.

I'm so excited!  We've been with MAF since July of 2008, and this weekend I will have my first ride in an MAF airplane!  It gets even better.  We are going on our first visit to the interior, a place called Nkara to visit with our good friends Jim and Nancy Smith.  They are missionaries and we'll get a chance to see their ministry in action.  I can't wait to come back and tell you all about it.  There's no internet there, so you won't hear from me for a little bit.  In the mean time, I wrote this a long time ago and then decided not to use it, but since I'll be gone I pulled it out of hiding. Personally, I think my cartoon drawing is better than what I wrote but I couldn't use the one without the other.


A good friend once told me I need to learn to say no.  I said, “I have to say yes.”  She said, “No, you don’t.” (See?  She knows how to say no.)

I do struggle with saying no.  On the occasions that I force myself to say no, I feel guilty and think I have to justify it.

So why do I have so much angst over that little word?
- I care and I want to help.
- I don’t want to be thought of as rude or disagreeable.
- I don’t want others to feel hurt or rejected.
- I don’t like confrontations and some people don’t like to take no for an answer.
- I want people to approve of me and not be disappointed.

Moreover (I’ve always wanted to use that word!), why should I say no?
- When I should say no and I do not, I become angry and resentful toward the person I said yes to.  It’s     not their fault, but that’s what happens.
- To keep me from being anxious about all the things I have to do that I should have said no to.
- If I say no to what I should, then I can say yes to what I should.
- My first ministry is my family and I should say no if saying yes would hinder that.
- I only have so much physical, emotional, and mental energy.

I need to get it in my thick head that saying no to someone is not handing them a big plate of rejection and saying “dig in!”  It means I am making a decision based on how much time and energy I have and what is best for my family.  I’m the only person who can rightfully make that decision because I am the one managing the home and juggling the priorities.  People have wrongly supposed in the past that because I am a stay at home mom, I have oodles of time on my hands.  Honestly, no, I don’t.  We chose to give up a lot financially when we decided I would stay home.  Even before we came to Africa I spent a lot of time doing things from scratch or by hand to save us money.  We spend a large chunk of our days home schooling.  I have other priorities that are important to me and that I feel God has called me to do.

What’s the worst that can happen if I say no?  I might lose a relationship that is based on manipulation or on the other person being used to getting their own way.  Alternatively - I might get an opportunity to steer that relationship in a healthier direction for both of us.  What is the best that can happen?  Freedom from guilt and resentment, and freedom to focus on what I should.

What can You do?

What can You do with...


broken dreams,
repeated failures,
endless frustration,
spent emotions,
confusion,
grief,
hurt?


Please, show me.


What can You do with...


a trusting heart,
willing feet,
open hands,
a surrendered will,
a seeking spirit,
tears of contrition,
a mustard seed?


Please, show me!

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.  

Who's Stolen My Heart?

Friday we went to the orphanage in Kimbondo with my friend Myndii.  That's not us in the vehicle above, but that IS what the kids do when they see us coming.  We always get a great reception.  A few people have said to me that they think I am doing a good thing for the kids by going to the orphanage and playing with them.  The reality is that it is good for me on many levels and I am probably more blessed than the kids are by my visits.  Spending a day with them really puts any problems I am facing into a different perspective.    And the welcome I get from them each time I arrive is so fun!  It's a little like the old Cheers tv show where everyone hollered Norm's name each time he arrived.  They know I am there just to be with them and it's a big deal to them.  

Myndii knows some songs in Lingala and started singing to a few little ones.  Before long, a group of children had pulled chairs over and were sitting around her and singing along.  Every time she stopped they asked for more.  One boy caught my attention because he was singing with a big smile on his face and obviously having fun.  I asked him what his name was and he said "Dieu Merci (Thank you, God)."  Dieu Merci has a sweet spirit and tons of potential.  Pray for him!

Pray for this baby too.  I am not sure about gender but I call her a girl because I don't like to say "it." She's new at the orphanage.  The kids who have been here a while never look like this.  She tried to cry when she saw us and no sound even came out of her mouth, she is so weak.  I rubbed her chest and tummy and talked to her but was afraid to pick her up without asking the doctor and he wasn't around.  It is really heartbreaking to see kids in this condition.

Nori, one of the staff members, asked me to take a photo of her with some of the kids.  The staff and older kids put the little ones up on this wall all the time.  We always were amazed that none of them ever seemed to fall.  Right after I took this, the little guy third from the right face planted on the concrete below.  I picked him up and was really surprised not to find any chipped teeth or any blood.  He cried for a while and then fell asleep in my lap.



Remember the 52 Challenge?  The bad news is that I am not keeping up with the goal to memorize a verse each week.  The good news is that I am still plugging along.  I try not to beat myself up with guilt and instead remind myself that the spirit of the challenge is to motivate people to hide God's Word in their hearts.  It's all about knowing God, not about the tally marks.

My newest verse leapt out of the pages at me the other day and really bit me:

"How can you believe if you accept praise from one another, yet make no effort to obtain the praise that comes from the only God?" - John 5:44

Everyone likes to hear an occasional "well done!"  I'm no exception.  If praise from others had no effect on us, Satan would lose one of his most valuable tools for luring us down the wrong path.  I've been thinking about my motives a lot since God showed me this verse.  How much of what I say and do is carefully worded or planned to prompt others to praise and admire me, and even worse, to do so instead of praising the Father?  Am I trusting God to know when I need encouragement and provide it?  There is a song I like a lot by Leeland, in which he sings to God: "You've stolen my heart! Yes, You have!"  Am I so in love with God that his praise means more to me than the praises of people ever could?  

Oh, Passion, My Passion

I wasn't sure what to write about this week, but in the span of a few days the word "passion" kept cropping up so I'll run with that and see what happens.  I was ordering produce from Papa Joseph on Monday and asked him what fruit is in season right now.  He said "maracuja," which means passion fruit.

Passion fruit flowers are stunning! I read that they received their name from missionaries, who were reminded by the flower of the passion of Christ.  The three stigmas represent three nails.  The "threads" of the flower represent the crown of thorns.  The purple represents the purple robe used to mock Jesus. The five petals and five sepals represent the ten disciples who remained faithful to Jesus throughout the Passion.

I used to confuse passion and exuberance.  I thought if I was passionate about Jesus, I had to show it by worshiping, speaking, and acting exuberantly.  But that just wasn't in line with my personality so I thought I had no passion and I felt guilty.  Then I met my introvert husband, who is far less exuberant than I am, but has a deep passion for Christ. I came to understand that passion does indeed compel us to action, but it doesn't require us to be something other than ourselves.  I was house cleaning yesterday and had my Selah cd playing.  Passion came to my mind once again as this song played:

O the deep, deep love of Jesus, vast, unmeasured, boundless, free!
Rolling as a mighty ocean in its fullness over me!
Underneath me, all around me, is the current of Thy love
Leading onward, leading homeward to Thy glorious rest above!

O the deep, deep love of Jesus, spread His praise from shore to shore!
How He loveth, ever loveth, changeth never, nevermore!
How He watches o’er His loved ones, died to call them all His own;
How for them He intercedeth, watcheth o’er them from the throne!

O the deep, deep love of Jesus, love of every love the best!
’Tis an ocean full of blessing, ’tis a haven giving rest!
O the deep, deep love of Jesus, ’tis a heaven of heavens to me;
And it lifts me up to glory, for it lifts me up to Thee!  - S. Trevor Francis

Now that's passion!  I love that hymn, and had to stop what I was doing and just absorb it.  

I had never tried passion fruit so I ordered some from Papa Joseph.  We didn't even know how to eat it.  Emily told us that she sees people at school just scoop out the pulp, seeds and all, and eat it with a spoon.  So, at supper one night we tried it.  Oh my, it was tart! Everyone had a good laugh at the faces we made.  I decided to try baking something with them. I figured if a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down then a cup of sugar ought to help us eat our passion fruit.  I combined a few recipes I found on the internet and ended up with passion fruit muffins.

Passion fruit muffins:

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
pulp from three passion fruits
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 cup milk

Glaze: 

1 cup powdered sugar
1 Tbs melted butter
pulp from one or two passion fruits

I just mixed all the dry ingredients first and then stirred in the wet ingredients.  Bake at 350 for 15 minutes or until done.  Add glaze when muffins have cooled.  Half of us liked them, including one of the cats.  She stole my breakfast muffin yesterday.

Nsango Na Bomoi, part 3

This post is the final part of a three part story.  For the whole story, see Nsango Na Bomoi, part 1 and Nsango Na Bomoi, part 2. 

After church, we decided to visit one of the members, Mosengo.  Mosengo and his wife had a baby a few weeks ago -- a perfect excuse for a visit in any culture.  He lives very close to the church, which was nice, because we couldn't have driven to his home.  

First we had to cross the creek behind the church.  This is accomplished by walking across on a two by four that is supported in the center by a large rock.  This is a classic example of the service driven economy here.  People needed to cross the creek, so a man bought a board and made a "bridge." Now people pay him to let them cross the creek on his bridge.  He lets people cross for free to go to church, though.

photo courtesy of Christine Grings

I mentioned in part 1 of this story that this neighborhood has not had city water in over a month. Because of that, people take water from this creek, which is not healthy.  If you click on this photo and enlarge it you can see the trash that is literally everywhere.  Also the creek is downhill from sewage and a cemetery.  Some well-meaning visitors from America came once and saw all the trash all over and decided that people just needed trash cans.  So they provided some, but there was no service in the city to remove garbage. When the cans filled up, people just dumped them on the ground nearby and started filling them again.  

photo courtesy of Christine Grings

After we crossed the creek, we had to walk down this road.  This is one of the nicer, wider sections.  There were rocks, puddles, chickens and pigs to watch out for.  Usually when you see one of these umbrellas, the person attending it is selling some kind of food or supplies.

photo courtesy of Christine Grings

This yard is about the size of my living room and is shared by Mosengo's family and two others.  This is where all the kids play, where the families work, cook and eat, and where they hang laundry.  I wish I had taken a photo of the front of the "house" for you but my camera batteries were dying.

Each building has three front doors.  Each door represents one apartment and consists of two rooms, each about the size of a large bathroom in the U.S.  There are few windows, if any, for light or ventilation.  They are wired for electricity but seldom have any.  There is no indoor plumbing.  The families share a community outhouse.  This is pretty typical of the housing for most of Kinshasa's families.  Mosengo was overjoyed that we paid a visit and told us so repeatedly. In Congo one in every ten babies does not live to its fifth birthday and this family has already lost two infants.

photo courtesy of Christine Grings

Now for the creepy part of my post.  To get to Nsango Na Bomoi church, we had to navigate a crazy road that borders a very old, very large, and very overcrowded cemetery.  Years of rainy seasons have taken their toll on the road and the land around it, causing a lot of erosion.  On the way in to the church we were discussing all  this and Christine said she was surprised that no bones had ever washed out with the rains.  On the way out, we spotted a bone!  Christine took this photo from the car window!  Now we wonder how long it will be before bones are found laying in the road after each storm.









Last but not least, I have a little treat for you.  It took several hours but I managed to upload a video of one of the songs from the church service so you can hear a little bit of Lingala and see a little bit of what it was like.  I had to cut the song so it's just a portion but it's about putting on the full armor of God.  Here are the lyrics and the translation too so you can even learn the song for yourself!

Pesa satana millimetre, (Give Satan a millimeter,)

akojua kilometre (he will get a kilometer.) 2x

Keba! (Watch out!)

Senjela! (Be vigilant!)

Bondela! (Pray!)

Lata (Put on...)

bilato na bitumba ya satana. (the armor of war against Satan.)

Yango nde Ephesiens 6. (This is Ephesians 6.)

The end.

Nsango Na Bomoi, part 2

If you are new to this blog you can find Nsango Na Bomoi, part 1 HERE.

We rode to church with the Grings family and arrived early so Dan could set up tarps and sound/video equipment in order to show photos from his recent trip.  He and one of the deacons had gone to a village in the interior where a new church is being planted.  

First everyone assembled together to sing praises.

After the singing, we went to Sunday School.  Daniel went to class with his friends Timothy and Anna.  No matter how often Daniel tries to be inconspicuous here in Congo, it never works.  He is easily spotted in almost any crowd.   

David went to the men's class.  Emily and I went to the women's class with Christine.  Some of the ladies and I recognized each other from my visits to Christine's Bible study group, which was fun.  They had been inviting me to visit their church and I think they were pleased that I finally had done it.

Some of the smaller children went to class with their moms.  They were curious about the mundele visitors and watched us constantly.

The worship service was in Lingala, but otherwise it was very similar to a service in the U.S. except that it took longer.  The Congolese culture is not as time oriented as ours.  A twenty minute sermon is unheard of. 

There was Scripture reading, prayer, and music - lots and lots of music.

Dan preached, then shared about his trip.  I was wishing I knew Lingala because the congregation seemed to thoroughly enjoy his sermon and his story.  I did get part of the "English version" from Christine.  

But wait! There's more!  To be continued...

Nsango Na Bomoi, part 1

Some of the primary school students at Mayele Na Bomoi;
 photo courtesy of Christine Grings.

I started to make this just one post but I took SO many photos and want to tell the whole story, so I am going to break it up into two or three posts.

On Sunday we visited a local church called Nsango Na Bomoi (news of life).  The pastor is our good friend Dan Grings, and the church, along with a school called Mayele Na Bomoi (wisdom of life), was planted here by his uncle Mark Grings.  The service was almost entirely in Lingala with a few French words thrown in here and there, but we still enjoyed meeting the people and worshiping with them.  I recognized several ladies from the Bible study group!  Here are some highlights and photos.

building project

Currently the church meets in the school building while they are building the sanctuary.  It is slow-going because this is a poor neighborhood and the members are paying for the building themselves, but when they finish, it will be theirs. 










This shows the ground floor.  The second story will be the actual sanctuary and will stretch back to the hill side behind the project site.

There are twelve classrooms in the school building, which are also used for Sunday School.  

Classrooms

We estimated the classrooms to be about fifteen feet by fifteen feet.  From morning til noon, 800 students from kindergarten through sixth grade meet in those twelve rooms.  During the afternoon, the younger students go home and another 800 students from 7th grade though high school meet in those same rooms.

one of the classrooms

There are no textbooks. Everything is written on a chalkboard and copied by the students.  This is pretty typical of any school here in Congo because there is such a shortage of schools, teachers, and supplies. Mayele Na Bomoi is required to use the government curriculum, but at least the school is also allowed to teach the gospel.  Pastor Dan conducts chapel at the school for all the students.

Chapel
photo courtesy of Christine Grings

The community the school and church serve has not had city water in at least a month and the people have to walk a long way to get water each day.  Please keep them in your prayers.

To be continued.....

How much is it worth?

KJV Bible (Photo credit: knowhimonline)

Meet Lily!  Piper was always fighting with Elliot, and peeing on my favorite chair, so we found a new home for her and kept one of her kittens for the kids (and for me).  I wanted to name her Kevyn, but the kids kept complaining about it so her name is Lily.  Her secret spy name is Kevyn though.  Lily really knows how to "chill out."

Thursday evening I got to help Christine with her Bible study for her church ladies.  Christine taught a lesson from the "wordless book" and then we helped the ladies make Bible bookmarks with ribbon markers representing the same colors.  She had never done a craft with the ladies and they needed a lot of assistance but were very pleased with their finished products!  

It was "Bible night," meaning those who came could take home a new Bible in their choice of French or Lingala.  No one was going to be refused a Bible regardless of their means, but the ladies had been asked to pray and trust God and bring whatever God provided for them to use to buy a Bible.  I saw at least two ladies somberly offer 500 franc notes for their Bibles.  That's a little over 50 cents in U.S. currency.  It doesn't sound like much unless you know that many of these ladies are widows, most of them have several children, and the per capita income in this country last year was $210 for the entire year (Source: U.S. Dept. of State).  I thought about my expensive study Bible and how much it cost.  If David and I each earned $3 a day, spent $40 a month on rent, and had to pay for transportation, feed and cloth our children, and pay their school fees with the remainder, how much would I be willing to spend on a Bible?  Any amount would be a sacrifice, but how much do I really treasure God's Word?  I'm so grateful for these women who treasure God's Word and want to know Him better!

"Holy Bible, Book divine, Precious Treasure, thou art mine." - John Burton

A fuse shortage can cause a short fuse

Fuse Box Panel (Photo credit: The Adventures of Kristin & Adam)

Emily is off school this week, so I scheduled some time off for Daniel and was eagerly anticipating some free time to catch up on laundry, sewing/quilting, and scrap booking - not necessarily in that order.  SNEL, our electric company, did not agree with my agenda.

Power here comes into the house in three phases. For those of you who, like me, know virtually nothing about wiring and electricity, each phase is a wire coming into our circuit box.  Each wire supplies 220 volt power to various breaker switches.  It is not uncommon here for one phase to randomly go out or have voltage that is too low and therefore bad for appliances and electronics.  When that happens, my handy-dandy husband makes a "bridge" in the circuit box to join two main breakers to one good phase.  It means I might have to turn off the hot water heater if I want to run the dryer but hey, I can live with that.

For over a week now, when we have power, it has been only one phase, and that phase has been coming in at only 140 to 170 volts.  Power for the whole neighborhood has been going off before 7am and staying off until late evening.  Last night when the power came on, we had two phases!  For two minutes!  Seriously.  After two minutes we were down to one phase again.  One minute later we had nothing. I called my friend down the street.  She had power, which meant that as usual, it was just my little section of road.

We have been told by a new neighbor who came in and did some research that our line is older than this country is.  It was put in while the Belgians were still in control.  The switches in the cabine where our transformer is located are all rotted so no one can even use them anymore.  The fuses for our street were missing completely and someone had hot-wired a bypass.  We are paying for new fuses, $25 each for three of them (one for each phase), and hoping our neighbors will pitch in toward the cost but in the past they have refused.  The fuses aren't the problem.  When we do have power, even though we always only have one phase, it's never the same one.  The bypass was probably put there because fuses were blowing left and right, but the only way to find out for certain is to try putting in fuses and wiring it correctly.

We've been told that our line is nothing but bits and pieces and will only get worse.  It is so bad that the new neighbor paid thousands of dollars to get permits and have the electric company move his house to a different line.  I gotta tell you that when someone who actually knows something about the situation and about the way things work here says something like that to you, it does dampen your spirits a little.

We have a missionary friend who has spent countless hours trying to help us, even though she lives on the "good section" of our line and often has power when we don't.  She is arranging a meeting today with a representative of the electric company and has invited the women of the neighborhood.  I plan to be there!  Please keep not just our family, but our neighborhood in your prayers.

I Did THIS for YOU!

Of all the frequently heard sounds in our home: laughter, talking, movies/games, kittens, etc; there is one sound I hate to hear.  I don’t know how to describe it, but if you’ve ever heard it you will know what I’m talking about – that nasty popping noise that occurs when an appliance or electrical outlet “blows up.”  Twice this week we’ve turned on a light switch and heard the “pop” while sparks rained down from the light fixture to the floor.  This morning I lost my kitchen outlet while brewing coffee.  So, in a week’s time we are down two lights and our outlet.  

Yesterday I had to deliver two of our kittens to TASOK so they could go home with their new owners.  We just got a new MAF family this week, the Linds, and I invited Lisa to come along and eat lunch on the campus.  On the way home the car broke down again.  Welcome to Congo, Lisa.  I was very grateful that we were within sight of the house when it happened, but a bit disappointed.  The breakdown meant two things for me. First, David and two friends of ours spent all that time working on it and the problem still isn’t repaired.  Second, I won’t be going to the orphanage for a while.  The car can’t make it that far.  To add to the day’s adventure, my daughter came home with one of the kittens.  The boy who was supposed to get the kitten couldn’t take it home because his father had neglected to tell their driver, who refused to allow it in the car.  

The school musical is finally finished.  Emily had both acting and singing parts in the musical and did a wonderful job.  Yes, I am biased, but she really did do wonderfully!  I imagine that David and I looked pretty goofy sitting in the audience with our big grins and beaming faces.   She is already focusing on her next extra-curricular activity: auditioning for the school talent show and assisting Mrs. Francis with the auditions for the elementary school students.  

Tomorrow our church is meeting at sunrise by the Congo River.  Sunrises make me feel hopeful and expectant.  It’s like opening a present on your birthday and finding inside a gift that someone lovingly made with you in mind.  Tomorrow I get to look out over the vast Congo River as the sun plays on the water, coloring the clouds, and think not just about this beautiful world God made, but also about the sacrifice Jesus made, and in my spirit hear Him saying “I did THIS for YOU!”  Have a wonderful Easter! 

Secret, Secret, I've Got a Secret

Bert and Ernie: Let me tell you a secret / 20090917.10D.53994.P1 / SML (Photo credit: See-ming Lee 李思明 SML)

I am supposed to write a "teaser" to capture your interest and make you want to go read my article that was posted today on the MAF BLOG. The problem is, even when I am writing, I talk too much. Every time I try to write a teaser about an article, I end up writing a whole new article about the article. So! Please consider yourself teased and click on the link above to read what secret God has been teaching me lately.