not alone

There is just something about sitting in a room with people who share the same passion as you. Tonight I was blessed by dinner and a get to know you session with others who are passionate about the Lord and about Africa. People who want to impact lives. People who want to change statics. People who want to sit and hold a little African child and show them that Yes they are loved.

Day 19.

A picture of your nicknames you have; why do you have them.

RED

My uncle gave me this nickname. It is the only one I have really ever had. I had bright red hair when I was little.  My Aunt still signs my card Red and it always reminds me of him.  I kind of like that he was the only one that called me Red.

Day 18.

18. A picture of your biggest insecurity, and the reasons why it is the biggest.

 I underestimate my knowledge. I have a hard time believing what I have to say is worth it. But I know it is. I am trying to believe the truth that what I have to say is worth it and can change lives, encourage, educate, and so on.

The wait is almost over.

In 38 hrs I will be on my way to Florida for the weekend. Why Florida?  Florida because I am working at getting back to AFRICA. Yes that is right. If all goes well this weekend I should be going back to the place that holds my heart after the new year. Exciting, yes.  Kind of scary, yes.

I came home this summer from Uganda not knowing what the rest of my life held. I have a want and a need to be in Africa but how that looks I don't really know. I was throwing around the idea of going to an orphanage and working with kids. My former boss's husband not knowing my idea gave me the name of a foundation that has orphanages over in Africa.

This weekend I am going down to the head office of the Rafiki Foundation. This weekend is to find more out about them. It is to find out what orphanage I will go to and when I will go.

I am excited about this but nervous too. I will be going by myself without a team to lean on when times get hard. I will only have the Lord and the full time missionaries over there. Please pray for me this weekend as I step out in faith and trust that no matter what the Lord is with me. 

15 and 16

15. Bible Verse.

I have two life verses. 

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9

"For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." Ephesians 2:10


16.  Something you're looking forward to

Getting back to Africa.

Day 14

A picture of you now and one of you last year. How have you changed?

 This was last year. College student.

This year. College grad. Now wearing contacts.

An afternoon in the Kitchen.

Yukon was ready for cake. He stayed close by in case I dropped anything.

So in less then a month my nephew turns 1. I get the honor of baking his cake. So today I practiced. Its a monkey themed birthday, so I found a recipe for a banana cake. See the full thing here.  I also made two buttercreams. One vanilla and one chocolate. Both really yummy. Probably ate too much as I iced the cake. But I couldn't resist.

Mise en Place. Getting everything ready.

Have I mentioned how much I am excited about our new found counter space. I rearranged out kitchen last week and gained tons more room to work with. If you have spent anytime with me, and if the topic of bananas have come up then you know I am not the biggest fan. (Although I did enjoy them in Uganda this summer.) But I do enjoy banana bread so banana cake intrigued me.

 

 The batter after the bananas were mixed in. Its an alternating recipe which means you add dry then wet, till all is incorporated. 

 

So part of the recipe was to fold in whipped egg white. Seeing as the batter was in our kitchenaid and we have no electric mixer. I took a stab at it with good old elbow grease. Took a bit of time but they stiffened up to make peaks.

So while the cake was in the oven I went to work on the buttercreams. Starting with soft butter, of course.

Chocolate. This is light with a calm chocolate flavor. I found the recipe on the blog Mommy in the Baking. It is really easy and turns our irresistible.

Ingredients

1/4 cup butter
2 cups confectioners' sugar
3 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons milk

 Directions

Mix together all ingredients. May need to add more milk (slowly) until frosting reaches a spreadable consistency. Pipe on to cupcakes or cookies.

 The cake out of the oven and looking golden. It may have been in a tad too long but I don't think that will hurt it at all.

The final product. It was my first time piping monkeys. Overall I think it turned out well. I will have a totally different look in a round cake. With that I want to pipe monkeys on the side around the cake. You will have to check back after the 10th of October.

12 and 13

12. Something you don't leave your house without.

My cellphone. Its kind of sad.

13. Goals

 Make it to each of the continents before I die. Yes I would love to visit Antarctica. I have been to 4 so far. Just 3 left.

I want to go to each of the 5 states. I have 5- 6 left depending on what rules you go by that says you have been there. 

I have other dreams. Ones like opening a BnB, getting married and having kids, adopting a child, and many more. But the two above are definitely on my bucket list. 

carrots, carrots, carrots

So we grew a lot of carrots in our garden. So many that we have a big bag left in the fridge. We have eaten them for dinner about 3 times a week.

So this morning I found a few recipes that would use some of them. The first one is a carrot bread. It used grated carrots rather than the puree a lot of the other batters used. This one was also really thick. I was worried about how thick but it turned out good.

 

The second one was oatmeal cookies. I added grated carrots to it. In half of the batch I also put white chocolate chips. They turned out well. The cookie recipe found here, was a little moister than the recipe said it would be. But they came out really good.

Day 11

A picture of your IPOD or other music playing device on shuffle, and then list the first 10 songs that play.

Fins, Jimmy Buffet
This is the Best Day Ever, My chemical romance
This Week the Trend, Reliant k
Adore You, Andy Chrisman
Mother, We Just can't get enough New Radicals
Accidentally In Love, Counting Crows
Way Away, Yellowcard
You're the Voice, Rebecca St. James
Concrete Jungle, Bob Marley and The Wailers
One in a Row, Trick Pony

Day 10

 A picture of your closest friend

 

This is Sarah.  I've known her since 8th grade when we played at an orchestra concert together (me violin, her cello. Then through High School we had classes together. I have been on many teams and have had many close friends. Lots of ladies out there I would consider sisters but this one is special. She allows me to be aunt to her kids. We have gone through a lot being there for each other. No matter where I end up in life. She will be in it.

Day 9.

A picture that motivates you to do more.

This was a hard one. But I decided on a picture taken by the wonderful Anna Bobalik. Why this picture?  Really any picture of little kids in Africa motivates me. This one shows the lack of shoes. The trash that just lays on the ground. The lack of parents. And then there is her face. How can you not want to help her and those like her?

Day 8 and back on track.

8 places that you have traveled to.

This is Lima Peru. Sorry about the blurriness it was taken before digital cameras.

Table Mountain in Cape Town, South Africa. I hiked it. Not quite as flat on top as you think. One of my Favorite places in the world though.

Grand Canyon USA. Years ago my family and the Prines took a 3 week road trip around the US well the western side. This was one of the many stops.

The Great wall of China. We hiked up to it and then along it. Too bad we couldn't see off it. There was FOG.

The bean in Chicago. I have been there many times. Usually girls trips for shopping or theater.

Shanghai, China at night. We took a boat tour.

This was taken in Swaziland Africa at the hospital in the abandon babies ward. He was a cutie.

This was in the Dominican Republic.

Day 6&7

6. A picture of a person you'd love to trade places with for a day

This is Lusanda. One of the ladies that led Ithemba After School Program where I worked in South Africa. Why would I switch with her?  Switching with her means I could spend a day with my kids again. It would be a great day to be loved by and love on the kids of Tokyo Sexwale again. I miss them.



7.A picture of your most treasured item. 

So this may seem like the perfect answer for a Christian. But when I thought about this question it seemed right. Other things that came to mind like my MacBook, car, phone, teddy bear that I have had since I was one. These can all be replaced. But my bible can't. I have other bibles but this one has notes all over the empty spaces. Its been around the world with me. Been with me thru hard times and celebrations.

Day 5

A picture of your favorite animal.

This is a tough one but having been on a couple safaris. My favorite animal on those/my favorite African animal is the Giraffe. But they all are pretty cool.  I am also a big fan of monkeys.

I hate Fb

I have been wittness to too many misusings of facebook. In the past 8 months there have been two instances that stick out where people don't think about what they post and it have majorly hurt peoples feelings.

I'm not convinced that people think about the fact that once you post on facebook its always out there.  Internet is a dangerous thing.

If you are reading this all I ask is that you THINK before you post anything on facebook.

And Please be respectful of others.

Day 4

 A picture of the cast of your favorite TV show  

I probably watch more tv than I should. I watch a lot of different shows but the one that I look forward to each week is Chuck.

Day 3

The meaning behind my blog name.


There is a song by Jesus culture. Go to Youtube to listen. Or look at the lyrics below.

My life is His.  I want everything I do be because He told me to. I may not be there yet in my walk with Him but that is my wish and desire. So when I was trying to come up with a name for this blog this song came to mind.

Where you go I go
What you say I say
What you pray I pray
(repeat 2x)

Jesus only did, What he saw you do
He would only say, What he heard you speak
He would only move, When he felt you lead
Following your heart, Following your spirit

How could I expect to walk without you
When every move that Jesus made was in surrender
I would not begin to live without you
For you alone are worthy you are always good

You are always good
You are always good
Always good
Always good

(Bridge)
Though the world seems to forget
We will not forget
Who you are and what you've done for us

You are my God
(repeat 5x)

Day 2

 A picture of you and the person you have been closest with the longest.

  

Not a very good picture of either of us. We were in the Forbidden City in Beijing, China. 

But thinking about it my Dad is the one who fits this day. Its always easy to talk to him. Yeah we have had our bumps and disagreements. But Hes the first one i go to when I need to talk about something.

Day 1

So I have put together a 30 day blog challenge from a couple that I found online. Something fun to do. I will try my best to do it everyday but there may be a few that I miss.

Day 1. A recent picture of yourself and 15 interesting facts.

At the Nile River earlier this year. I don't normally do solo pictures so it was hard to find one.

Now for the 15 interesting facts. Some may not be interesting. It was hard coming up with them.

• I have 2 biological siblings and 6 exchange siblings.

• I have a dread. (Thanks Josie)

• Favorite color green, which you can tell from everything I own from my glasses to my pack.

• I like to can salsa.

• My closet is organized by color and length of sleeve.

• I make my bed every morning.

• I transport my dog in my trunk.  Yes he gets in there by himself.

• I have cataracts.

• I have a tattoo.

• I am a Red-haired middle-child.

• My car is gold. So is my moms, sisters and brothers.

• This summer was the first time I used the bathroom on a plane.

• I quilt every now and then.

• Rather eat black raspberries over red raspberries.

• A daddies girl.

bagels

So I am currently unemployed as of last week. This leaves time for other things like baking. Some how this weekend I got signed up to make bagels. So after I went and handed out a resume at a potential future job I went to the store and picked up bread flour. Once home I started to make them. 

After finding a fairly easy recipe online. See it here. Besides time there really wasn't any time consuming tasks. I made them with just a bowl. No kitchen aid needed. The recipe makes 8 good size bagels. 

I first made bagels in culinary school. I was excited about it because there aren't really bagels in Africa. And they are really the only thing that I crave after being there for a long time. So now I can make them and have them anytime as long as I have an oven.

Next time I will try for cinnamon raisin or maybe an everything bagel. But for now I will enjoy these and share them with friends.

Those who I pray for.

There are always faces that stick in my mind after my mission trips. Most of them are kids. Here are a few of those faces from the past 4 years. Each one has a story of their own. Each one just wants to be loved. 

Brah in Jeffrey's Bay South Africa. Playing guitar.

Harvest and Precious in Uganda.

Kids in a village in Uganda.

Some of my kids in Jeffrey's. Koko in Red, next to him his older brother. 

So many times I wonder about them.

• I wonder if Koko is staying out of trouble. His his dad still locking him out of the house/shack during the day. 
• I wonder do all these kids know that there is someone out there who loves them even when their families don't.
• I wonder if these kids will grow up and not get stuck in the cycle of poverty and hopelessness that their families have.

Yebe Island, Lake Victoria.

On one of the days in Uganda we went to Lake Victoria. Thinking it would be a day of being tourists. We were wrong. We arrived at the lake. Proceeded to squish into a boat and travel to an Island. Where we went to meet the police and let them know that we were going to "evangelize". As we sat there once again squished on wooden benches introducing ourselves to the police children, like always, started to gather.

After splitting into groups each with a translator we were off to spread hope and love to a island that we would soon learn was lacking both. 

Yebe Island is home to fishermen. Everyone on the island is either a fishermen or married to one. There is no hospital. No school. And 5 churches on an Island that you can practically see across. There is so much despair. Children run around all day with no school to go to. I was asked by one to stay so that I could teach him English.

Each person we talked to wanted prayer for financial stability. The women (who can afford it) have had to send their kids to mainland and wanted prayer for safety and to be reunited.

My team had a rough day hearing all the stories and trusting that this hopelessness wouldn't stay. Our/My prayer for Yebe Island is that there will one day be a school. That the churches will rally together and unite for the future of their kids.

One of my favorite picture from the trip. I didn't even know this kid had popped into my photo until she did. Behind her are fish being dried in the sun after being smoked. A little look at life on the Island.

Enduring like HE did.

Just lately in the last few months I have been hit with a lot of rejection. For lack of a better word. A number of people have told me that they don't want we to work for them or they don't need me.

Talk about a hard hit.

I never thought of my self as someone who needs or depends on others approval. But to be wanted or needed is something that I need. Now I don't know if that is all wrapped into being female and how our hearts work. But I do know that I am not sure if I can handle another hit. 

And that is the point right there. I may not have the strength to take it but look at what the Lord did for me. He took the ultimate denial. And I don't think he spent nights crying himself to sleep or wishing He had a different path in life that would be easier. He knew it was His Fathers plan for Him. And somehow that made it okay. That gave Him the strength to endure. He knew the truth. He knew that what He lived for wasn't a joke or a lie.

I want to be able to go through this time of shaking and cleansing like that. I want to be able to wake up and go to bed everyday and know that He is right there with me. That when all of this is over it will be worth it because there is something awesome on the other side. I want to praise Him through the trial. I don't want to cry myself to sleep I want to fall asleep praising the Lord.

When it feels like this life this world doesn't fit its because its true. I am made for His Kingdom. I am on this earth, in America, in Africa for just a short time. My true home is with Him. So maybe this feeling on not fitting isn't just because I am not in Africa. Maybe its because I am not with Him in His Kingdom. And why it feels so right in Africa is because its the closest to that that I have experienced. I have been the closest to Him there. I see Him everywhere there. But He is still everywhere here.

I know it is a little bit on the rambling side today but I have so much going on in my head I needed to get some of it out.