Today is the big day!

After six month's of Lawren's absence, today she comes home. Her plane is scheduled to arrive in Huntsville about 8:30 tonight. It is a day that around the first of the year I thought would never arrive. Lawren has known for several years that the Father was calling her to Europe to attend a YWAM DTS...Youth With a Mission Discipleship Training School. Her lecture phase took place at a pioneer school in Berlin while their outreach occurred in  Chiang Mai, Thailand.

For as long as I can remember we have talked about missions...I am not sure why. Maybe a couple of factors attributed to this mission mindset. First I grew up in a traditional Southern Baptist church where we annually prayed for home missions and foreign missions, took up a Lottie Moon Christmas offering and either attended or taught GA's Girls In Action and Acteens. I took my girls to "Mom and Me Mission Camp" every year at Worldsong in Birmingham until they were old enough to go to week long camps by themselves. Also, during my years of Bible Study Fellowship, my teaching leader oftened referred to some of the great missionaries of the past who helped shape our world. Furthermore, because many of our homeschool years were spent reading great stories, we read about missionaries.

On our first mission trip to Poland three and half years ago, God planted a seed in my daughter to return. She sometimes patiently waited to graduate and launch herself into all her heart was crying for.  During our time in Ruda Slaska , Poland, while the Father was revealing Himself to me as Rescuer...past, present, and future, He was stirring the heart of my beloved daughter to Him.

...the Lord knows how to rescue godly men (Pam) from trials and to uphold the righteous...2 Peter 2:9

The first few months of the DTS weren't too bad....Thanks to the technological age we live in we were able to talk via Skype on the computer weekly. I was even able to receive occasional texts via her ipod during the week. I simply cannot imagine what a parent must have undertaken allowing their children to take off years ago without any communication other than rare letters via snail mail. Even Thanksgiving Day was spent in front of the computer with each family member spending time with Lawren.

Once the outreach began the communication lessened which became harder for mom since their were tummy troubles in Thailand...two hospital visits and down time at the base. Probably for mom the loneliness was the hardest around the first of the year, once the hustle and bustle of outreach here and the holidays ended. Because I was talking less to Lawren, I missed our long conversations...her sharing her heart about something the Lord spoke to her that week or whatever struggle she was encountering.

It was then...with communication limited, I realized why missionaries ask for prayer more than money.  Did you know that YWAM staff does not receive a paycheck? I knew Lawren had to raise her own support to go over there but it never occurred to me that the people staffing the bases...pouring themselves into young adults from all over the world...day in and day out...then trusting the Father to get them to outreach and provide daily for their families..were also depending on others for their livelihood. That is not normal.

Lawren's time in both Europe and Thailand  has been richly rewarding and continued to affirm the love for missions that the Father has placed in her heart. You can follow her blog at www.lawrenelizabeth.blogspot.com. I am sure there will be many more stories to come from her recent experiences.

In The Ministry of Motherhood, the author conveys, "Jesus' work in a person's life has always begun with a call to leave behind the goals, purposes, and distractions of this world and to say yes to a whole new life, a new way of thinking. 'Follow me' is what he told the disciples as he recruited them. And they did, abandoning their fishing nets, their tax-collector's moneybags, their permanent homes, their everyday duties and pleasures. And they never went back. Sure they still did a little fishing from time to time! But once they made the choice to follow Jesus, their lives were forever changed. They never returned to 'normal'."

Furthermore, the author relates, "If I seek to inspire my children to understand and own God's purposes for their lives, that means they will grow up with a different set of instructions than people in the world have...God is not measuring them by how much money they make, what kind of car they drive, or how big a house they are able to buy."

"It is Jesus who calls them just as He calls me..what a privilege...(completey humbling) to have been included in bringing about this miracle of calling. What a great idea God had to use mothers as a part of that process....of helping to inspire our children to God's purposes and walking alongside them as they learn to make the choice of leaving the world."

When I ponder sitting in front of this screen that the God of the universe saw my little nest situated here alongside the Tennessee River in Morgan County, Alabama....and saw our hearts loving Him while still trudging through the daily grind of distractions, busyness, not to mention daily battles of the flesh, and chose us...chose us for greatness....plucked my little girl up, carried her overseas, stretched her to the point she felt like breaking, but treated her with lovingkindness while growing her heart even bigger...touching the world with  my daughter....

Wow, what a sweet momma moment....

Many thanks to each of you who have been praying regularly for Lawren and our family. I am overwhelmed by the faithfulness of God to produce fruit in  the lives of our families. I am so thankful to God for what I see Him doing in and through Lawren's life, It gives me great hope to continue planting seeds in the lives of my other four children that they too may know the secrets of the kingdom of God.

Not many are called to overseas foreign missions and that is ok. However, as children of God we are all disciples and called in Matthew 28 to go and make disciples..wherever we are..at work, school, play, in our homes, wherever the Father has you today. And the command comes with a promise that I love...I will be with you  always even to the ends of the age.

I have the most interesting friends...

I remember a time when all my friends did the same things I did. We all either homeschooled our kids, were stay at home moms, or never missed church. Not so much today.

The circumstances of my life have dictated that my friendships change. My divorce brought working outside the home which altered my schedule dramatically. No longer were there opportunities to meet for play dates with moms and kids or the flexibility to get together with friends often during the week.

Yet, I realize that although my schedule and circumstances of life change, I have some of the most interesting friends. Just in my weekly interacting via calls, social networking, texts, and occasional visits, I have girlfriends who practice occupational or physical therapy, bellydance for fun, dance in drum circles, hunt, deliver mail, and more.

Recently, I encountered a couple of fun situations where I realized just how blessed I was by my friendships. First, there is Dana. Dana is Madisen's mom. Madisen plays ball with my Hannah Rose...softball, basketball; and since I have finally relented maybe even soccer this upcoming fall for the first time..they have even played travel ball together briefly.

For now, Madisen is an only child so Hannah often gets to tag along with their family. Last spring break they visited the Smoky Mountains. Most recently Hannah hung out during the snow storm after I returned to work. Dana spent all day pulling Madisen and Hannah in a wheelbarrow top from the back of a four wheeler all around their yard. I have attached a picture and video to show you how much fun they had.

Dana, and her husband Danny have taken Thomas, my youngest, hunting. Did you know that hunting often requires going the day before to scout out your area? The same weekend they went we had lots and lots of rain. Madisen's poor horse was struck dead by lightening. Yet, as determined people they still buried the horse, scouted the land, and took the kids hunting. There is something to be admired about that kind of dedication to do what you love.

That Sunday afternoon after church they showed up to pick up Thomas. Madisen came to the door with her heels, skirt and black sweater on. I proceeded to the car to find Dana in a dress. I still can't believe someone that pretty is about to go get decked out in camo and hang out in the woods. I am just glad they love us enough to be a part of our lives.

But the greatest thing was several weeks ago I get a phone call. I see from my cell that it is Dana. When I answer she is whispering...She says, "Hey, it's Dana. I'm about twenty feet up in the air. I just killed a deer and I can't find it. Danny is on his way to help me. Can you go get Madisen from her grandmother's and take her to practice?" Did you whisper when you read that...because without whispering while you read you lost the total effect!

I reassure her that sure I would pick up Madisen. That evening after practice both Danny and Dana show up with the deer in the back of their pick up.  She proudly lifts the prize up by its antlers for the kids, who have barreled out of the van, to see. I say, "Dana, I am totally impressed that you hunt. You are my only female hunting friend. I could never hunt with you because I don't like being cold and once I saw a deer I would only want to pet him. But I am thrilled to see your passion about life." Dana reassures me that this particular deer suffered minimally.

Here is a pic of her prize...the deer and her hubby...

My other friend Ingrid is living another great story...She met her husband Robert at a monster truck show in California. They got married and eventually returned to his homeland, which is nestled almost directly across the river from us on Hobbs Island. Our families meet via church; although I later realized we have purchased fish from his mom and dad's fish market for years.

Anyway, Ingrid's mom and step dad are about to retire her from the west coast. A few weeks ago I pick up Hannah from there home late one Sunday evening. When I arrive into their home here is what I found: I AM NOT KIDDING.....I EVEN TOOK PICTURES I WAS SO BLOWN AWAY!

 Ingrid and me hugging the ram..we edited the one where the kids had us picking his nose.

 Sydney and Hannah by the??????????I am sure I should know that!

 This cape horn buffalo is situated on Ingrid's dining table.
You can see the size of this creature, just head and bust, with Ingrid in the background.

These pictures don't even include the spare bedroom where the bed was completely covered with additional game. The story is that Ingrid's step dad has been on four African safari hunting trips. This is what he brought back. Her family had the animals shipped to Alabama to store until they retire here in the near future.

The only problem is Ingrid does not realize the truck will come at 7 am on Sunday morning...the very day of not only church but little Hayley's birthday party as well. So, at seven am with Robert out of town, Ingrid and the truck driver are jump starting the four wheeler in order to attach the animals onto the four wheeler and drive them up there incredibly steep driveway, unload them, remount them onto these bases and place them in her home.


I guess the most impressive moment of all this for me is that while Ingrid is reliving the day, there is never a moment of complaint or aggravation that dead wild game has taken over her home. She is calmly relaying the events and thinking ahead of how she is going to situate all these animals in her home til her folks get here. Never a moment of criticism or whining that her husband wasn't there to help or that there is no where to sit at the dining room table.  What an inspiration.

Before I left I said, "Ingrid, this was a fabulous way to end a hard day...I am going home to write about this.  So, here you have a couple of stories about some fabulous friends that the Father has placed in our lives.

There was a time of my life when people who lived differently or did things I considered weird would not have impacted my life. I was too critical and judgemental and narrow minded to consider the vastness of God and His glory that is manifested in and through the various lives He allows us to interact with.  But today I see Him....His character..revealed through my friendships and find myself humbled and grateful for the privilege of these friendships.

RIVER OF LIFE LESSON: Be open to the people the Father keeps putting in your life. The Lord may be wanting to use them to teach you something about Himself.

Who are you thankful for? I heard a sermon this past Sunday at Buckhead Church in Atlanta that emphasized DTR..define the relationship. The pastor was encouraging us to define our relationship with our heavenly father...is it growing and is there purpose there?  We can filter our earthly relationships through that same grid. How am I growing and what purpose does God have for me in my current friendships. Good food for thought.

I would love to hear your feedback about how the Lord is blessing you through your friendships!