The True Meaning of Christmas

Hallmark and the American culture has really amped up the way most of our society views Christmas and the Holiday season. Billions of dollars are spent on gifts of all shapes and sizes, wrapping paper, bows, tape, and Christmas cards. Family members try to outdo the other ones with who has the prettiest and best wrapping skills. Elf on the Shelf, the popular children's book, has taken over most homes with little ones. Charlie, the elf,  TP's the christmas tree and gets into all kinds of mischief chaning his hiding place every night up until the big day. Santa is glorified and adored by most children all around the country. Pictures with their best outfits are taken with Santa at the mall. Parents rattle off, "Santa is watching kids."
With all the hustle and bustle that comes along with the Holiday season, we must take the conscious effort to stop and ask ourselves: What is the true meaning of Christmas?

What really is the true meaning of Christmas? 
We don't find it unwrapping all of our gifts underneath the tree or opening up our stockings from Santa. After the countless hours spent wrapping, shopping, and cooking to prepare for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, what do we have to show for all the time invested into preparing? We open our gifts and then the day is over. Does any of the joy that comes from the gifts last

But then all of a sudden you change your mind and you just decide to put the gift up on the book shelf. You aren't going to open it.  You don't care to find out what is inside and you decide it will be best left unwrapped. It can't really be that great of a gift anway. You leave it and let it sit on the shelf, looking pretty still wrapped in the red glittery paper. Imagine for me for a second that you have a gift. It's beautifully wrapped in red glittery wrapping paper. A big bow is on top and it's from your favorite Aunt, who happens to be the BEST gift giver EVER. Last year she gave you an ipad, so you KNOW the gift is going to be amazing.  You shake it around and it kind of sounds like…. well you aren't sure what it sounds like, but you know you will love it. Your curiousity gets the best of you. You can hardly wait to open it. 
I believe that is how we view the gift that God freely gives to us. The true meaning of Christmas is about the greatest gift we will ever receive; Jesus, the small baby that was sent to Earth today. Most are very familiar with the story of Jesus' birth. In Luke 2 an angel of the Lord appeared to the shepherds staying in the fields nearby where Jesus was born. The angel said three very important things to them. 
The first, "Do not be afraid." "Fear not" is in the Bible 365 times. God wanted us to understand this and said it enough times to remind us each day of every year. We have nothing to fear. Jesus came to take away  all our fears. WE NEED TO HEAR this and believe this each and every day of our lives. Fear consumes most of our lives. Will I have enough money this month, will I get my promotion, will I get an A in class, will I ever get married, will I battle this cancer, will I get into college? The list goes on and on. Jesus has our back and came to take away all those fears. We must give them over to Him to deal with. 

The next thing the angel said was this: "Fear not, don't be afraid-- I bring you GOOD NEWS that will bring great joy to ALL PEOPLE."
Do you get what that means? Christinaity is not a religion-- it's a relationship with a living Jesus. John 3:16-17 says, "For God so loved the world that He sent his One and only Son, that WHOEVER believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. God sent His Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him." God did not come to condemn us and to give us orders and rules to follow. The world was already condemned before He sent Jesus. Jesus came to restore us with the Father. AND THAT IS THE GREATEST NEWS we could ever hear. God so loved the world that He sent Jesus, but Jesus so LOVED his Father that HE came to save us! :)

Being a Christian is not exclusive-- there is only one way to God, but PRAISE God there is a way and it's available to EVERY SINGLE PERSON. Every single person. Not the good ones, the rich ones, or the one's that have never messed up in their life. We all have the choice to be saved and adopted into God's family.

Lastly, the angel said, "Fear not. Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will bring great joy to ALL people! The Savior-- yes, the Messiah, the Lord-- has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David!"

Family in Sanibel for Christmas

What is a Savior? Our jobs, family, and paychecks don't save us. Jesus is our Savior and He came to save us from our real issues-- SIN. Life in Him is the greatest gift we will ever receive. 

Many of us have that red glittery gift sititng on our bookshelves, our kitchen counter, or stored away in our closets; untouched, unwrapped, too afraid to open and see what is inside. My friends, I beg you to open it up this Christmas season. Jesus loves you, but He won't force you to love Him.

One of the many blessings God has given me after opening His gift

Jesus says in Revelation 3:20, "Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends. " You may have already let Jesus through the door, or maybe Jesus is still standing and knocking on the door to your heart.  

One of my favorite writers C.S Lewis states who Jesus really was this way:

“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.” 

Never in my life have I felt more love than at Our Own Home in Jinja, Uganda.
My Home away from home

It might be pretty sad for you to miss out on that new Iphone 5C that your Aunt gave you in that red glittery package that you have decided not to open, but it would be devastating for you to not open the free gift of love, peace, joy, and eternal life that Jesus freely offers to you today. Because of His birth today and his death and resurrection 33 years later, we have the choice to accept Him this Holiday season and to be adopted into His family.
I know for me, personally, the red glittery package was scary and untouched for many years. I thought I had opened it as a little girl, and I may have, but I got caught up in the world and was trapped in a self-consuming lifestyle. I am so thankful to God for allowing me to open my heart to receiving God's gift 3 1/2 years ago. God continues to surprise me and take me on a journey I never could have dreamt for myself. To all those in Africa, Nicaragua, and here at home I pray that God touches you through my words that were directed by God, and I pray you join me in this incredible life along side Him; Our Savior.

Merry Christmas

A Beautiful Purpose

Well today is November 1st.
I can hardly believe how fast this year has flown by. I have already seen countless Facebook statuses starting off the month with the things people are thankful for.
As awesome as it is to see all the things people are thankful for each day, I wish we could truly be thankful for every day of our lives, no matter if it is November or not.
We so easily get caught up in all of the chaos of our lives that we tend to see the things we don't have, instead of being thankful for the things we do have. We often are thankful for the things we do have when something threatens to take the very thing we take for granted away.

I find the only way that I am able to be conscious and aware of all that God has blessed me with is if I make time to be in communication with Him. It's too hard to stay focused and content with what I do have, if I am not taking the time to really see and hear all the blessings God has given me.
So many things are fighting for my time, and I know its the same in your life as well.

What takes top priority in your life? Many people would hate to admit what really does take top priority. For me, the top priority that took the throne over my life for YEARS was success and achievement. I thrived to be successful in school, but MAINLY in gymnastics. Neither success nor achievement are bad things to strive for in your life, but the motive behind wanting to be successful and achieve much was wrong. My motives were driven by self, not driven out of my love and thankfulness to God.
I realize now what being a Christian is really all about. The Christian life is a process of better understanding what Jesus taught, learning to apply that teaching in your every day life, and then teaching others; people on the other side of the globe and people directly around us, to do the same. Satan, the world, and our sinful desires fight against our growth in the Christian life and the advance of the Gospel. When we choose to lose ourselves in this Divine romance with God, His richness overwhelms our total being. Revealed in our lifestyles and how we interact with others, God in us makes us whole and complete.
Today I am so thankful to have experienced standing in the Presence of this God of love, completely overwhelmed and satisfied with all that He has done for me. Nothing worth having comes without some kind of fight. God took away ALL that I leaned upon in my former life (gymnastics and ungodly relationships) to bring me TRUE LIFE. I went from a broken, hurting woman, through a process of healing, to finding a hope that I never knew existed, to FINALLY becoming a new woman, with a new, changed heart.
Deep within my heart, and yours is a God-shaped hole. We all have that hole. We try to fill it with buying more clothes, losing 30 pounds, having different sexual partners, the list could go on. I am thankful that God captured my heart through people pouring into me, praying for me, and eventually sending me to Nicaragua and Africa to finally have the eyes to see that I was filling the hole with all the wrong things. My new eyes have given me the chance to seize the opportunity to make a difference in many people's lives. One person I am thankful for today is my loving son, Obed. My parents were able to meet him just 2 weeks ago, when God allowed them to go to Africa to help and serve God in ways they never thought possible. I'm so thankful Obed got to meet his adopted grandparents. :)

We must remember that our identity is found in Jesus, not our job title or by the things we are good at. We are sons and daughters of God. God is pleased with me, because I am His daughter. He is pleased with you as well. You don't have to do anything to earn God's love. Nothing that you have done in your past will ever make God love you less. He loves you, regardless of any mess ups that you have had.
Today I urge you to take a look around you. Realize that you are loved, you live better than 99% of the rest of the world. The stuff you buy today, will not bring you lasting happiness through tomorrow. The only way you can truly feel at peace, satisfied, and filled with joy is through Jesus. I never knew what that really meant until a few short years ago. All of our hearts are longing for that sense of peace, yet many of us have no idea where to start. I would love to help you jump right into this love story with God.
I pray these words stir something in your heart.
 I am thankful for you.
God is thankful for you, for He made you with a purpose; a beautiful purpose indeed!

God's PERFECT timing

It's amazing to think about what God can do in a years timing. A year ago today, my life was forever changed. After an incredible journey to Nicaragua with my family last June/July I knew God was calling me elsewhere to serve and follow His lead. I never in my wildest dreams thought He would send me to Africa, without anybody I knew prior to getting accepted to the team. I remember casually looking up on my church website to see if there were any upcoming teams going to serve around the world. It was early last July. I figured I may come across a trip that was leaving in the beginning of  2013, but I stumbled upon a team going to South Africa in October. Man, I didn't have much time to prepare, but I figured if God wanted me on that team. He would provide everything I needed to go. Sure enough, I signed up, and a week later I was accepted.

I thought I had it all figured out. I was just in Nicaragua, met my sweet boy, Moises, and had a life changing time. I figured I knew how emotional I would be in Africa, I knew how much poverty I would see, and I would be more prepared to meet my South African boy, Obed. I couldn't have been more wrong. And for those of you that know me WELL, I HATE to admit that I am wrong, but I will do so when I am.

Africa literally turned my world.. not upside down, but right side UP! And I shouldn't say Africa did this for me, God was behind all of it. God used Africa to literally break me down, teach me so many lessons, and heal many past wounds. I wish I could just give everybody a little glimpse of a day spent in Africa. I so badly wanted to bottle up each day and give them away to people here at home. I want to show everybody, tell everybody, and have everybody experience the pure joy, the raw heartache, the brokenness I felt in each and every day. I made friends, both in South Africa and those on that team of mine that I can call family, that have come along side of me to do life together. I can't imagine my life without them now. God knew was He was doing and that trip last October to Africa was an incredible time that I will cherish for the rest of my life.

Ill never forget meeting my sweet Obed and watching him play soccer on the sidelines. I looked up and down each side of the dirt field the boys of the village were playing on. The sidelines of games in the States are lined with lawn chairs  and coolers filled with yummy snacks and fruit punch Kool-Aids. More important than anything else on those sidelines are the families that are represented  for each player out there on the field. Moms, dads, grandmas and grandpas, brothers and sisters. Soccer games are a family affair. Yet, I stood there in South Africa and saw nobody cheering on the precious children. I broke down and lost it. My heart cried out for not only my boy who doesn't have a mom or dad, but for all the other boys playing their hearts out and not having anybody to look to on the sidelines for a smile, an encouraging cheer, or a shout of praise. From that moment, I knew there was no turning back. I was in this for the long run and I would be playing on God's team.

The biggest thing I think God has been teaching me throughout this year is that He really does have everything under control. Things might not look pretty, the world may look like it is falling apart, but He is at work, and He is using anybody who is willing to step out on the field and play for Him. He's whispered MANY times to me that I can't fix the world and all the problems, but I can trust Him to help lead me into being all that He has called me to be. And I can be used to bring glory and honor to his name. He also has shown me that HIS plans for my life are far better than mine. They actually are not even comparable to those that I had for myself.

I thought God outdid himself last year with my trips to Nicaragua and Africa, but yet again I was so wrong. He sent me back; to Nicaragua in March and then to a couple different countries in Africa this summer for nine weeks. I still am on cloud nine, knowing how faithful God is and how much He loves me. I did things this summer in Africa that I know I was not capable of doing alone. God was with me every step of the way, and I seriously can say without a doubt that this summer was the most incredible experience of my life. And God truly does get all the glory. He worked everything out; providing generous, God-loving people to donate the funds for me to go. He didn't just supply half of it, he supplied ALL of the $10,000 in just 6 weeks.

Today ends another chapter of my life, as I am leaving the job and family I have grown to love over the past year. It is bitter sweet, but I know God is calling me elsewhere. God's timing really is perfect, as this week I just got accepted into Ball State's ABA Therapy Master's Program, in hopes to be an ABA Therapist and Analyst, wanting to further my education and work with special needs children. I'm excited to see where God leads me next, for I trust that His plan is perfect for me. I thank Him for each and every one of you reading this that has prayed, provided funds for my mission trips, and been a friend to me offering encouragement, love, and support.

 For those who haven't given total control over to God, I beg you to do so, because I am no different than you and God wants you to experience the life He has set out for you. I pray you find strength and courage in my words and my story.

Take a look around. God needs you in the game, playing for Him. There are so many children and people that need you cheering for them on the sidelines of their life. You don't have to go to Africa or China to make a difference. God called me there, and He may not call you to do something like that. Stepping out can be scary at first, but I promise you... do you see the picture of my boy Obed and I? He is worth stepping out for, the children in all these pictures are worth cheering for. Your family, coworkers, and friends are worth stepping out for.  I would love to share more about my experiences with you if you are struggling and need someone to listen. If you don't have a church home, I would love to invite you to come to church with me. You have a friend in me always. You are worth it all and more importantly God thinks you are worth it all.  Trust Him...He will give you everything you need and more.. in His Perfect timing. Blessings,
                                      Meghann :)

Choose to Love

Stop for a minute.
 I know you are busy.
A thousand million things are going through your head right now.
You are worrying about a situation at work. Pay day isn't until Friday. You checked your bank statement and you only have 18$ in your account. The gas tank is almost on E. You slept on your neck wrong. Your friend is mad at you. Your skinny jeans are a little too tight. You ate two pints of Ben and Jerry's Chunky Monkey icecream. You haven't worked out in ages because work is consuming all of your time. Your dad is sick in the hospital. You just found out your friend has cancer. Summer is almost over. You don't want to go back to school.
I could go on and on with the examples of every day thoughts, stresses, and struggles, but there is somebody that has your current list memorized. He knows how you are feeling in this exact moment. And He knows how you will feel this time next week, next year, and ten years from now.
We tend to look at the world and our lives and see all the things that we DON'T have. We focus on our problems and they become ALL CONSUMING.
God never intended for our lives to be that way. He really didn't.
 I think the average person would believe that God loves them. But have you stopped and pondered that statement?
God loves you. He loves me. He made each and every single person different. No one person is alike, yet we all were made in His image. His creation was intended for us to enjoy. And to REALLY enjoy. Look at all the different types of trees, plants, and flowers. I cant even begin to recall how many there are. Maybe 100,000? Why do you think He did that? He created the sun, the moon, and the stars. He created weather, different seasons, changing temperatures.
And don't even get me started on foods. Don't you think the God of the universe could have made it easy for us and not require food to live? Or maybe one type of food, with no taste? There would be no need for chocolate cake. Why not just created a little pill that would sustain us. Give us everything that we would need to survive.
All of these things were given to us to enjoy and because He loves us so much, yet we abuse what we have been given. We abuse it to the point that we don't even realize what we have; what we have been given. We get so caught up in ourselves and in our every day struggles that we forget why we were even made to begin with.
We were created to be in relationship with Our Heavenly Father. He wants that more than anything, and He wants us to glorify Him and thank Him for all that He has done for us.  We look at our problems and the world's problems and think that He has left us; abandoned us, given up on us. But don't you see that those are the lies the Enemy feeds us?
As followers of Christ, when we commit ourselves to God and fully accept Him as Lord of our life, we freely receive the Holy Spirit. Our spirits are made new. Now, the Bible doesn't say our bodies and minds are made new. Only our spirits are made new. Satan still has free reign to attack our body and mind, yet He fears our Spirit, for He knows He can't win against God. The Holy Spirit is our DIRECT line to God. It gives us the opportunity to be in tune with Him. How cool is that? Because the Holy Spirit is within us, we are given gifts and abilities to be all God wants us to be.
We can step out in faith, and know that God is with us, because He is dwelling in each and every one of us.
Today God gave me the gift of laughter and friendship. He specifically showed me how much joy He wants to give when we decide to trust His lead. Jesus taught by example. He had no agenda, no time table, and wasn't concerned about numbers of people He could save each day. He took the time to get to know His people He loved so much. He MADE the time to really get to know them, their problems, their struggles. He sat with them, walked with them, prayed with them. He was present.
He wasn't on his phone texting in the middle of his conversations. He wasn't consumed by work, lost in thoughts from the previous day. He was present. And He wants us to be present and available to others.
Look around you.
Invite someone into your life today that is totally random. Do something unexpected. Show kindness to a stranger.
He has shown me that even though the problems of the world seem huge, He is bigger than all of those problems. He really does love you and this hurting world, but we have to choose to look to Him. We must choose to see past the lies the enemy makes us believe. We must choose to be the change He wants to see in the world. He wants us to share this gift of love He has given us, yet most often than not we shy away from the world; AFRAID of not being good enough, smart enough, talented enough, pretty enough. But we do really have everything we need, right inside of us.
He is here. He IS ENOUGH.
Jesus has used Africa and the beautiful children here to teach me how to be intentional. To show me that God can do BIG things when you are open to letting Him use you.
 His perfect love drives out fear.
Choose to see. Choose to smile. Choose to laugh. Choose to be different. Choose to be used by Him.
But most of all.....
Choose to Love.

He Chose Me

What comes to mind when you think of a beautiful, rich life?

A few years ago I would have answered the above question in a very different way, but today I find myself in one of the most beautiful, vibrant places in the world. Each morning I wake up to children of all ages, staring at me with big, brown eyes. I love how each child has a distinct look to them, a colorful personaility, each unique in their own way. My favorite part of waking up in Jinja, Uganda is waking up to the children's voices, hearing their laughter.

"Good morning mommy."

 "Mommy, good afternoon." 

Hearing 61 children call you mommy, seeing the joy on their faces, hearing their laughter, is my answer to the above question. A beautiful, rich life is a life that is full of unconditional love, without hesitation.

The kids have taught me that; to love. That is my agenda, that is my every day plan. How can I show the love of Jesus in every situation I am in?

Coming to Africa has been the hardest thing I have ever done in my life. God has used it to challenge me; to break my heart, and to help me face the reality that this world is facing. He has used it to show me my own heart, which had turned gray, full of pride, bitterness, and anger from Satan's tight hold on my life. I have been pushed out of my comfort zone in so many ways, sharing my whole testimony for the first time in front of dozens of women, and teaching bible lessons to children and teenagers. My first trip to Africa I knew not one single person I was going with at the start. After constant disappointment in my life, my heart knew I needed to be all in for God, no matter what it cost, or it entailed. Yet, each time I have had to step out in faith for God, He has provided me with so much more than I could ever have asked for. He is opening up my eyes to see that He has given me so much more than I ever thought I had, and He continues to surprise me day in and day out, over and over again.

I think the greatest thing Jesus has taught me through everything He has shown me is that I can't expect things or peple to fill the God-shaped void in my heart that has been there since I can remember. God has filled our hearts with longing, but we don't know what we are longing for until we see the breathtaking God. This statement is so true to my life. He is in fact what I have been searching for, chasing after, striving to reach my whole life. The people of Africa, the beautiful children, have shown me the breathtaking God and the love He has for me. I was living such a Me-filled life a few years ago. Our culture pushes us towards pursuing a life lived for ourselves, yet I can't help but remember how empty my life truly seemed to be. Nothing I ever accomplished was good enough. The joy never lasted of reaching my highest goals of achievement. I worshiped many other gods; the god of achievement, the god of family, the god of money, the god of entertainment, and most of all, THE GOD OF ME.
I had to rid my life of all the extra stuff that was in fact dragging me further and further away from where I needed to be; at the center of God's will. Despite disappointing God over and over again, choosing my own way time after time, He never stopped pursuing me, never stopped loving me, never gave up on me. God disrupted my life in a way that I never thought possible, in the form of breaking my heart for those in need in Africa and in Nicaragua, and teaching me what it really meant to live a life of love for Him.

I rejoice in the fact that I am brought to tears by leaving the precious children I have grown to love, in the many places God has sent me. I leave a piece of my heart behind in every country, every village. Each child has brought joy into my heart that I cant even begin to explain. The greatest part about it is that this joy is a blessing and gift from God that doesn't leave. I haven't gone a day without having this joy in my heart, and I can't thank God enough for giving me this special gift. I have figured out this joy is from knowing that God loves me so much, more than I could ever begin to comprehend. He has been waiting for me to give my life to Him completely, for so many years.

Today I am thankful; thankful for the beautiful life He has given me, filled with beautiful children and people to love everywhere He sends me. :)
This is the beautiful, rich life He has promised us all. The question is; Are you willing to take His hand and have Him show you the way?
Love to all from Our Own Home,
Meghann

Beauty from God

As I sit in the home of William and Holly Pheni, I can't help but feel a sense of peace, hope, and love beyond my comprehension. Fifteen of the kids are sitting quietly at my feet, soaking in each other's company after a morning of church in jinja town. I can't help but feel how much love the God of the universe has for me; for you; for all of these beautiful children here at Our Own Home, here in this world.
I find that the more time that goes by walking hand in hand, side by side with Jesus, the more my life makes sense. Everything seems to be crystal clear. I see that God's gentle hand has been actively seeking me out over the course of my life time. I see how many times I constantly slipped up; tripped up along the journey, yet God still was at work, whether I realized it or not.
God chose a very unique and special way for me, and in fact I believe He chooses a special, unique way for us all. He disrupted every single plan I had for my life, which in fact was not life at all. I have never really quite understood what being a woman was really all about. I never knew who God wanted me to be as His daughter. I always assumed I would plan out my own life, I would make my own choices. But I had it all wrong.

Most of us like to play it safe. We don't want to let our guards down, don't want to let too many people in, and we protect our hearts in so many different ways. We find a way to make a life of safety, YET we ALL have experienced grief on multiple occassions. I can think of a handful of different things that happened to me over the course of my life. I have had men use, abuse, and trample my heart time and time again. I have lost loved ones. I have had mean words said about me. I have had many disappointments along the way. I understand now that the human heart is a battlefield. And the war is a deadly one, that can only be won with God at your side.
See, most people will not admit that we are in desperate need of one another. God made us to be in relationship with others, yet so many of us shut down, block off the rest of the world, and stay in our safe, small bubble.  When we do this, we completely miss the beautiful life God has in store for all of us. We also miss what it really feels like to love and be loved. You see, God is a romantic God. And women who are reading this, He made us so special and unique. He made us to be beautiful.

Do you tink you are beautiful? I have ALWAYS had issues with thinking that I do not fit the mold of what this world thinks is beautiful. I believe all women struggle with this, whether we admit it or not. The enemy feeds us lines of doubt to think we are fair less than what God really says we are.
Women, we hold a special place in God's heart. Men don't miss this either, women are suppose to be treausred, loved, romanced, and thought beautiful just as God does and thinks of us. To be spiritual is to be in a romance with God. Our TRUE self becomes reflected in our apperance. BUT it flows from the inside out. Our world has it all wrong.  Beauty is what the world longs to experience from a woman. Beauty is within every woman, and this is something that I am just now believing of myself because I finally am understanding what God says about me. Beauty is not what the world says it is. Beauty is in the heart.
Beauty was given to me by God; was given to ALL of us by God. Beauty also may be the most powerful thing on earth. You see, Satan, before He was cast down to earth, was a BEAUTIFUL angel in charge of 1/3 of all the angels in Heaven. God made Him beautiful, radiant, majestic. Satan's beauty turned him prideful, which later caused him to want to be God. Satan was then cast out of Heaven and down to earth, and he is here among us today. We see his work being done through muders, rapes, HIV, cancer, suicide, and many other destructive ways. I truly believe that Satan hates and despises us, because we are at the very heart of God, and we were made in His image. A book I read recently, called Captivating, opened my eyes to see that Satan especially hates women. We bring new life to earth, through bearing children, and mothering friends, family, and loved ones. We bring new life to earth, and Satan wants to detroy all things living. Satan was beautiful when once an angel, and He longs for that beauty, which is found at the heart of EVERY WOMAN. Not just skinny women, tall women, women without pimples, women who are athletic. All women are beautiful and made to be beautiful. Unveiling this beauty is our greatest expression of love, BECAUSE it is what the world most needs from us. We choose to not hide anymore, when we choose to offer our hearts to Jesus and to others.

Jesus offers himself, which is how He loves. When we offer beauty to others, their hearts slowly come to life. God has allowed this truth to be revealed to me through seeing his beauty He placed in my heart, but more importantly, the beauty He has shown me through the beautiful children of this world that many choose to not see. God has given me a new heart, full of passionate love for His hurting children in Africa. This quote expresses exactly what I feel; "The place that God calls us is that place where the worlds deep hunger and our deep desire meet."
God has called all of us to step out in faith, step onto the ledge, and jump into His loving, trusting arms. We can risk stepping out when we are resting in the love of God. He asks us to be vulnerable, to be beautiful, to shine brightly. I finally see how God has made us all beautiful in our very own way. He has given us this beautiful earth to enjoy, which is His amazing way of romancing us; to show us just how much He loves us.
The beautiful children here at Our Own Home in Jinja, Uganda, the breathtaking beautys in South Africa, and my stunning kiddos in Nicaragua have opened my eyes and heart to really, FULLY understanding how loving our God really is. Others may look at the world with hopelessness. Some may say there is too much work to be done. I challenge you to look past the negative, and really SEE the world around you. Look out your window. Stop, and BE PRESENT. Soak in all the beautiful creation around you that God has blessed you with. God has sent angels into my life in the form of these precious kids. THEY are the hope of this world. The beauty in my soul is BEST when shared, and I believe that to be my God-given puprose. The beauty in my heart is Jesus, desperately wanting to be shared.
You have a purpose. You ARE beautiful. God has given you MORE than you could ever imagine. Step onto the ledge.... and JUMP. :)

Love to all.

Red Dirt and My heart on my sleeve

Well God continues to show me His amazing love, grace, and mercy as this journey continues. When you invite God in, NOTHING is impossible. There have been so many God moments during the course of the last week in Cape Town.
Not only did I feel God's love for me through all the amazing women and kids in Langa, but the staff that exceeded our expectations with the beautiful beach home we stayed in, the incredible meals they prepared for us, and the over the top extra mile the whole staff took for the women's conference. The women couldn't repay us, and to be quite honest there was no way we would afford to have something so lavish and glamorous for them. Elaine and Neil really went over the top, giving their VERY best. All the workers gave their best. We were all excited to help. We should ALWAYS give our best, not because we want something in return, but because it is what God gives us and expects us to give others. I am still in awe of everything they did for us. I am definately missing my Cape Town family and team!
 God is at work, His Word is alive. It isn't about us figuring out what God wants us to do. Don't limit God to what we can ask. He does MORE than what we can ask or imagine.
Hollie and I made it to Uganda. Can I say culture shock? The landscape and climate is even completely different; red dirt roads, green lush plants, plam trees, and muggy air flood my senses. Streets are filled with busy people rushing everywhere, cars and motorcycles weaving in and out of traffic.
We arrived very late in Jinja, about 11:00pm. Hollie and I went to bed shortly after we got home. We woke up after a great nights sleep and headed to Our Own Home. We spent the whole day with the kiddos. I can't begin to tell you how much joy they brought to us today. We are now called, "Mommy Meg" and "Mommy Hollie." They all have such vibrant personalities and are so outgoing. We colored, played futbol, played Old Maid, and just loved on all of the children today. Hollie and I just loved today. :)
Thank you for everybody praying for us. We love you dearly.
Meg and Hollie