Overpopulation Is a Myth

Good News!

Good news from Africa! The Lord has begun to turn the hearts of the tribal people away from the superstitious mingi practice that leads them to drown or abandon their children. Here's an excerpt from the Drawn from Water blog:

The meeting is over in the tribes and Lale has returned beaming with pride for what was accomplished. What started out as a meeting in one village with 60 people ended up being in two separate villages over the weekend and included nearly two hundred people! Lale said that there were people who had killed mingi children in the past crying and repenting for what they had done and in the end everyone there made a pact to try and stop the belief in mingi in the entire 130,000 people that live in the three tribes as soon as possible. Lale is planning another follow up meeting in the coming months to ensure that the progress continues and that the people who made the pact together feel supported.

We are so thankful that the meeting went well and that progress is finally being made, please continue to pray with us that these tribes start to see the light and know that what they are doing is wrong.

Also, Lale met with a family who is pregnant with a mingi child who was planning to kill the child. They agreed to give over the baby Lale when its born instead of killing it. The mother is 7 months pregnant and so we are expecting to have a newborn in the orphanage soon!

Levi

True Beauty

Last spring, while Paul and I were in Las Vegas (he was attending a business conference), I had the wonderful opportunity to spend uninterrupted time alone with the Lord, seeking Him and letting Him speak to my heart. I found, to my dismay, that I was overwhelmed by the false images of beauty that surrounded me there. I couldn't just dismiss them as I'd hoped. Every billboard and sign seemed to mock me with how far short my body fell of the ideal presented. I knew that Paul said he found me beautiful, but I had such a hard time believing him. I knew that God must see things differently than what was presented there, but I couldn't imagine how. So, that first day, I spent the morning asking God to reveal true beauty to me. His answer so far exceeded my expectations that I have not struggled with this issue in a serious way since. (I had been struggling with this for years, ever since our rather disappointing honeymoon experience which I have shared in person before and may blog about sometime.)

Today I read a blog post that made me realize many women struggle with this issue. So I think it's time for me to share what God shared with me. Here is an excerpt from my journal. I hope it helps someone else as it's helped me.

Lord, teach me what is beautiful to You. You call me beautiful and flawless (Song of Songs 4:7). So does my husband. But I have such a hard time believing it. This week in Las Vegas, surrounded by seductive beauty advertised on billboards, signs, and flyers, I am confronted with the kind of beauty I inwardly desire. I compare myself to it. I feel that if I could attain it I could capture my husband's heart more fully. For if I looked more like those women, wouldn't he be so satisfied with me that he'd lose the temptation ever to look at another? Can't I have that kind of beauty?

This is how the Lord answered me in the quiet place of my listening heart:

"No, my beloved. I don't want your heart to lust after that kind of beauty. It is passing at best. I want you to pursue the kind of beauty that captures My heart. You already have this kind of beauty, and you are growing more beautiful daily. Let me remove the false idol from your heart.

"I am altogether lovely (Song of Songs 5:16). Do you think that I look like a fertility goddess? No, I look like My Son. Am I less because I look like a humble servant? A broken, bleeding man on a cross? That is the kind of beauty I want for you.

"Beauty is your face laughing at the day to come as you so fully rely of Me that its challenges don't daunt you (Proverbs 31:25). Beauty is your eyes looking with love on the ones I have given into your care. Beauty is your hair tied back so it isn't in your way while you work. Beauty is your body getting up in the morning to seek me and prepare breakfast for your family. Beauty is your belly stretched and marked by carrying My children. Beauty is your heart that keeps giving, your back that keeps bending, your hands that keep serving even when you are weary.

"Your husband does not desire to embrace another woman. That is why he turns away his eyes when their images are flaunted before him. He knows that they are a deception. I have already removed that false idol from his heart. Let me remove it from yours as well.

"Your husband does desire to embrace you, his wife. You are the one who serves him and his children and then, at the end of the day, turns to him with a heart full of love. Your body is beautiful to him. He does not see scars and callouses. He sees love.

"How could he not love you? He loves Me. He loves what I love. You are my good and perfect gift to him (James 1:17), matched to him in every way. You are the one he needs and wants. He desires no other to share his bed, his heart, and his life.

"Just as My Son did not wear his full glory when He walked the earth, neither do you. Just as He will soon be revealed in His full beauty, so will you. The world does not value His beauty. He was despised and rejected by men (Isaiah 53:3). But those who have eyes to see know that His beauty surpasses all others.

"I have eyes to see your beauty, My beloved. And you have captured your husband's heart with just one glance (Song of Songs 4:9). He is captivated by you. You are a work of art, My masterpiece. I see it, and so does he. Receive his love. Receive My love."

I pray that these words minister to your heart as they minister to mine.

Happy Birthday, Thunder!

Our little firecracker, appropriately named "Thunder," was born two years ago today.

Many people helped during the long periods of partial bedrest needed to help keep him safe before he was born. Here are pictures of some of them.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Thank you all! Love you!!

The Dream of a King: Glory in Ethnic Diversity

I just finished listening to this sermon by Stuart Greaves, director of the International House of Prayer in Kansas City Night Watch. It was very encouraging to hear this honest, hopeful message about unity between races and cultures given in his warm, transparent manner.

The sermon starts about an hour into the video if you want to skip ahead.

Enjoy!

"The Dream of a King: Glory in Ethnic Diversity" by Stuart Greaves

"Black Children Are an Endangered Species"

While writing a paper for my undergraduate degree about Margaret Sanger, I became convinced that there is a real agenda to erase "unwanted" people, including those of "undesirable" races. This video helps make this chilling reality clear.



"Jesus, I plead Your blood over my sins and the sins of my nation. God, end abortion and send revival to America."

For more information on this topic, click here.

See? I Really Did Meet TobyMac!

As I posted on Facebook, Paul and I got to meet TobyMac a couple of weeks ago at the KLOVE/Air1 Radio staff banquet. We had such fun enjoying the private concert (my husband has SUCH a cool job!) and chatting with him for a few seconds after the photo was taken. When I mentioned how I've made my six kids wait in the car while I finish listening to his song, "Made to Love," he said, "Oh, you have six kids?" I expected him to continue with something typical like, "Wow, that's amazing." But what he said totally surprised me. He said, "We have five!" Paul confessed that we "cheated" by adopting one of them, and he told us that they had adopted twins. Suddenly, in our brief meeting, we went from strangers to friends.