Kenya Bound

This morning I awoke early, and just allowed today to soak over me. Today I leave my precious babies and my amazing husband behind and I head off to Africa for two weeks. I still can't believe this is happening. I can't believe that God has called me on this missions trip. I can't believe that I am fully funded. I can't believe that I have found it in my introverted self to do this. I know this was all his plan. That every step of this was crafted by God and I know that this entire trip will be in the hands of him.

I am packed, vaccinated, notes are written, videos are stored, photos have been taken. I am ready. I am excited but yet I am sad. I am leaving my family for two weeks. This is the longest I have ever been away, and the furthest. I am beyond blessed with this amazing man I get to call my husband. This guy is truly a blessing from God. His faith, strength, confidence, support, love, encouragement, and the list can go on is stead fast on God. He is an amazing dad who will make sure these kiddos will have a great time, that they will lose track of time and I will be home super fast. I would not be going on this trip if it weren't for him.

I also wouldn't be going on this trip if it weren't for my partners. Those amazing people who have donated and prayed over this trip. Your support is by far the best blessing. Thank you for all your love and encouragement during this time.

I will do my best to write daily. I am not sure of how the internet connection will be once we leave Nairobi. If I can't do daily upload I promise to write and then post when I have internet. Continue to cover my amazing team, the Kenyans, and all our families here at home.

Thank you! God Bless

In The Wake of The Election

This was originally going to be a Facebook post, however it got a bit long so I decided to bring it to my blog. So here it is. 

I am happy and proud of my vote. I stood at the polling booth with my children and had no hard feeling on the topic. I voted with confidence and never did my decision make me sick... I voted along with 4 million+ others for a change a real change. I knew he would not win but that did not stop me.

With that being said I will support our next president; I would have no matter who it was. The things Trump said in his town hall meetings, debates and ads were uncalled for and unnecessary. But it happened, just as Hilary had her many, many problems. Learn to forgive and move forward. Pray he acts with more dignity and respect going forward. We all have skeletons in our closets… However, I think Americans quickly forget what this path is all about. His "promises" for change, his "ideas" about immigration, his "desire" to overturn Rhode VS Wade and all his other "promises" are all just campaign strategies. He as a single man cannot make these changes all on this own. All those other people that were on your ballot yesterday, all the people who still sit in the Senate, House and on all the other committees at the White House THEY are the ones who get to push things along. Have faith in what is to come.

The people who did vote for him are not all racists, LGBT heaters, Bible Thumping, closed minded, ignorant people. By the way you have these type of people on both sides of the isle... The majority of the people who voted for Trump are good, loving, accepting people who were afraid of Hilary, or vote party blindly, or believe in some of what he said, or just didn't want to vote for a career politician. But saying awful things about the people who voted the opposite of you, or just sitting in fear is not the answer. The answer comes down to prayer, and acceptance. I am a Christian, I am raising my children to be Christians, I go to church with my family every week, we read the Bible, I homeschool my children so I can raise them MY way and not the way the Government tells me too. But get this I also am tolerant, accepting, and loving. I am not perfect, I have made many bad decisions, I am a sinner. I have gay friends and family, I have nonbelievers as some of my best friends, I have lost people to drugs, I have good Christian women in my life who have had abortions, husbands and wives who had affairs and came back to each other. Christian doesn't mean that we think we are better or that we hate; it is actually the complete opposite. So please don't blame the Christians for this election. It's one thing about this election that has bothered me the most.

This country has gone through many horrible presidents, we have gone through war on our own land, the Great Depression and so much more. We as a current society have no idea how good we have it.

Even our great Abraham Lincoln (who is one of my favorites) made really bad decisions while president. He spent money on weapons without the approval of congress. He limited freedoms that were set down in the Constitution. He incarcerated anyone who threatened the war efforts without a trial or even being told what their crime was. He even seized land from people if they opposed the war. But we stand here today and look at what he did for the good and praise him for his actions.

I have seen so much hate, anger, fear, and just pure nastiness today. It hurts my heart. In the words of my husband “Take a moment and set aside what you think you know about “your” candidate regardless of how certain you are, put yourself in someone else’s shoes, and empathize with them. A person’s perspective is often shaped by life-long circumstances that your seemingly logical arguments, justification, and rationale can’t overcome. The current “us vs them” tone following the election will only create a greater divide amongst us.”

We need unity not division we need prayer; we need love not hate. Look to your friends, family and loved ones and think long and hard about what you will share, type or how you will react. Take a stand for peace and change. If you don’t like the outcome of this election in four years make a change. I have seen a lot of people ask “How did you get here?” My response to that is look in the mirror. WE as a society have brought our country to this point. We have allowed ourselves to get this far. WE put both Hilary and Donald in the position to hold power and in my opinion NEITHER should have been in that position in the first place. Here we stand for next 4yrs. Yes you can be unhappy about that, but can I ask how will that help? How will protesting, killing, fighting, name calling and the just down right nastiness help? Instead come together as one, hold hands with people across the party lines, stand firm with your brothers and sisters of this country. LOVE one another and PRAY.