A girl with a mission

Songbird returned from her mission trip to Mexico this past Saturday. I'll admit, I was crying as soon as I saw her coming out of that terminal. I missed her so much.

She's been home for about 3 days now. We've only gotten snippets of her journey. I'd love to say she took amazing pictures of her time there, but unless you want to see her wrinkled toes, a pile of cookies or goofy pictures of her teammates, you'll have to use your imagination. Lord knows I've had to.

She came back tired - manual labor & changing time zones will do that to you. Yet she also came back with a renewed faith. She loved serving. She can't wait to go back next year and serve again. She was amazed at the progress that was made in the short time she was there and cannot wait to see what is accomplished in the coming year.

I just love her servant's heart. I'd love to say that she gets it from us (and it may), but I know that its truly a gift from God. God put it on her heart to serve. He put it on her heart to go back.

As the days go by, I hope to learn more about what she experienced. In the meantime, I am blessed knowing that she has decided to follow Christ's example and make fishers of men at such a young age. I only wish I was that obedient at her age.

Many blessings,

What a blessing

Mending Hearts has been a work in progress for several years now. I know how it I want it to work. I have a lot of the plans written down (mostly on napkins & other scraps of paper). I think the reason for dragging my feet is fear. Not necessarily fear of failure- if I can help just 1 person then it is not a failure. I am afraid of success.

Don't get me wrong, I want to following God's plan. I want to reach out and help other people. But I want it to be easy & instantaneous. Which it is not.

Yet the other night I received a call that just may change my life.

You see, a friend is hoping to venture out in a new business for herself. Coordinating natural beauty pageants that benefit local non-profits. The first local non-profit that she would like to help -- MENDING HEARTS! Half of the pageants' proceeds will be donated to Mending Hearts. Now I have no reason to get this off the ground.

I am humbled that she wants to feature this ministry. She wants to help get the word out locally so that I can follow my calling. This is a win/win. She gets the pageant experience & I get the free publicity. The fact that she has that amount of faith in this calling -- it truly is humbling. She believes in this ministry. She believes in the mission. She believes in me.

I'll be honest, I'm a little freaked out now. I mean, time to put my money where my mouth is (not literally). It's a put-up-or-shut-up time. So much on my end needs to be accomplished. I gotta say though -- I am SO excited. This is a break I've been hoping for. Heck, this is the kick in the pants that I needed.

So, the journey continues......

Many blessings,

Piece of my heart

Songbird has spread her wings and gone on an adventure. She decided last fall that she wanted to sign up for a mission trip with the high school ministry at our church.

Last Saturday, bright and early, she and approximately 40 other high school students (& 12 adults) boarded an international flight to Merida, Yucatan Mexico. There they are to serve the community by doing some construction at a local school and painting the classrooms.

As proud as I am of my daughter's servant heart, I miss her terribly. It feels like a piece of my heart is missing. Silly, I guess. What will it be like when she goes off to college in just 2 short years.

Thankfully, the group is maintaining a blog of the trip, so we are able to see snippets of what she is doing. She looks wonderful. Having a great time. Making new friends. Serving God. What more can a mother ask for.

I cannot wait for her to come home on Saturday. I can't wait to hear about everything she's done. How God worked through her. I cannot wait to see what she brings home and see her pictures.  I cannot wait to HUG her.

Many blessings,