making noodles

There is this incredible couple that have decided to take me in as an "adopted daughter" for my time here in Colorado. John and Sue Messer. I have been very blessed to stay at their home, join them for Thanksgiving and play games, organize, watchmovies and take long naps on the couch for a lazy weekend day as we all waited for the incredible amounts of snow that were suposed to come our way.

This one particular weekend I had the fun experience of making noodles for a home made noodle soup that was to be made with the left over spoils from Thanksgiving. This event brought back great memories of times with my friend Christy years ago when we used to make great dinners and enjoy each others company.

This is a recipe that I could make in Madagascar and I will be looking forward to it when I get back!

Glad to have learned the basics and know that I can make this with next to nothing and no special machines...

Thanks for the lesson in the kitchen! I really enjoyed my time there!

Fire Alarm

One of the first days back in the USA and I found a whole packet of bacon in the Missionary Fridge. Since I was the only missionary staying at the WorldVenture office apartments, I decided this was a blessing just for me and that I would cook it.

I was making an elaborate breakfast egg sandwich - with sourdough bread, chedder cheese slices, fried eggs and was so excited about the bacon.

I had not remembered that most meets here in the USA have an incredible amount of FAT or grease on them and before you know it as I am cooking the bacon, and watching the pan closely the grease starts to catch on fire. I was standing right there, this should not have happened, and yet it was going out of control fast.

I grabbed the pan off the stove top and quickly turned toward the sink, then remembered that it would be a grease fire and I should possibly take it outside and set it in the cold? Well, before I could get the pan outside the grease was smoking, like an old world indian teepee during war time setting the fire alarms in our building off.

The Fire Alarm buzzers were loud, the strobe lights gone into full effect and some people from management positions upstairs had flown downstairs in disaster/emergency mode even before I could think on my own feet. Running toward the very kitchen where I was standing, trying to fan the smoke detector so that it would stop adding to the chaos of the entire event.

So, I had to go through the embarrasment of having most of the office evacuate in groups coming down the front stairs and the back stairs, the fire department come to the building and many people parade down past me in my red leopard robe, due to the fact that all my clothes were being washed and that was all I had left. - I had not showered for the day or made myself presentable on any level yet I pretty much saw most of the employees over the next couple of minutes.

Welcome to the United States, a royal red truck welcome from the fire department.

Trading HOPE - Madagascar items

Trading HOPE is an amazing part of the ministry that I am HOPEing to work with here in the United States that is just getting its start.

I just arrived in Colorado at an event where they were opening up a small shop to sell items made by people overseas at great prices - with the holidays coming this is a great opportunity to get things out there that might sell and get the word out about the country that I love and serve in.

It seems that the items I brought back were just right for this time and went like hot cakes... Because of this event I was able to place another small order and see what will happen with the items once they arrive.. Praising the Lord!

Here are some pictures of the items that GOD provided from Madagascar to share in this event. This is all so new for me, yet I am excited to see how GOD leads, guides and moves.

Please join me in praying that the items will be well received and that the message of Jesus will be brought through these business relationships.

There is so much going on in GOD's amazing kingdom!

A whole new world

After 42 hours of travel, no sleep - planes, busses, trams, tarmacks, windy city's, and foreigners from all far away lands. I have just arrived in Colorado, its November 15th and woken up from a great 12 hours of sleep.

What an adventure so far. I have even been blessed to meet some incredible people along the way. One lady even did the rest of the journey with me from London, to Chicago and then arriving in Denver. You know who you are and that you are special to me! I am thanking GOD for putting you in my life, as random as it may have seemed at the time.

This picture here is of my dresser, as you can see I have tried to put up cards, pictures and letters from friends and family both in Madagascar and here in the States so that I feel surrounded by those that I love and love me back. People that are invested in me and I in them. This road feels daunting, yet with the Love of our Heavenly Father and earthly friends, family and supporters I know that this journey will be one of strength, wisdom, challenges and VICTORY.

It snowed here on the first day, and I don't have many clothes that fit, partly due to the fact that I packed light, and that the clothes that I wear in Madagascar on a daily basis don't have anything to do with SNOW.

I was able to walk down to the local Big Lots and purchase a few pairs of socks a scarf and mittens - those are all helping me so much for now... and just last night a new friend loaned me some tennis shoes. So my feet should stay a bit warmer...

I treasure your prayers... I have posted a letter to friends and supporters on my facebook account in the notes tab. Feel free to read and respond if GOD leads...

Birthdays

My Birthday has come around once again and this year I find myself more and more blessed.

I have a group of friends from a bible study from my home church back in CA that sent me two boxes and they arrived this week. I am enjoying the pillows, the socks, the wonderful corn tortillas and all the other wonderful goodies that they put inside..

I have had a tough week with the death of my dog yet I can feel the presence of GOD and I know that HE will lead me, guide me and shine his wonderful face on me.

A group of 9 people came to my house to play games, so that we could all leave the baggage of life out on the porch and just enjoy each other, have a great time of fellowship and really just get into the games at hand.

This time it was Mexican train dominoes! Reminded me of so many fun times that I had before with the girls that I had used to live with at 306 Bagnall Ave in Placentia. We played dominoes, cards, board games, computer games, and ping pong, dutch shuffleboard and many other games. You can learn so much about someone when you are playing games with them, you learn great group dynamics, and you learn about conflict resolution, about caring for others and about who is just plain out of control competitive.

Even here in Madagascar this is a great time of fun, fellowship and great understanding! I am so blessed to have friends here that will take time out of their night to come to my house and play, celebrate my birthday and just "be" in community with me. GOD is amazing!

shad-RACK

My dog Rack was an incredible companion for the 6 short weeks that I had him. He was one of three dogs that would try to sit on my lap, lay across my legs or just follow me in the yard as much as possible. He was the only boy out of the three and got in the least amount of trouble. He was adorable and easy to teach.

This last week he had a tough one, first with getting worms and having to have 4 shots, and oral medicine - his doggie body was weak and could not stand up against the next infection. I had a very hard week taking all three dogs to the vet one at a time for medication and check ups along with hospitalization for all three at different times.

Rack went into the hospital on Saturday because he was expending a lot of blood and died at midnight on Sunday after what had to be intense pain and agony. He had been bleeding for over 48 hours and his limp body just could not fight or show signs of life anymore.

On Monday when I received the phone call to let me know that he was infact dead, I sank to the floor in the kitchen where I was cooking the other two dogs rice and working on getting ready for my long day out in the countryside trying to find people that were good at what they did so we could export their work to the states...

This death hit me very hard because the main reason that I got the three dogs was because I had been so lonely over the last year and the loyalty and ability for dogs to sustain and stick with their master is a great one. It is a proven fact that playing with your dog for about 20 minutes a day brings great joy and peace to the owner. I was not even anticipating loosing one so soon, and the one that was the most attached to me. This was a very difficult time.

I can tell you that in loosing this particular dog, GOD reminded me that this home that we live in is temporary, that the things of this earth will pass away and that HIS timing is above all else. People will pass through, animals will live their life and die, things or comforts will one day not be comforts anymore - YET one REMAINS CONSTANT and that is GOD. Our relationship with GOD is critical to our ability to get through the tough times in life. Our ability to hand over the tough times, people in relationships, experiences and circumstances is what makes our RELATIONSHIP with GOD so incredible. HE wants to carry us, HE wants to support us, HE wants us to ABIDE in HIM and talk to HIM, rest in HIM, and count on HIM.

I know that I am constantly working through that in my life, what about you? God is telling me to focus on my relationship with HIM. HE MUST be my one and only, the one that excites me about life, opportunities and adventure.

Where do you see your relationship with GOD?

Only in Madagascar - flights

Well, I am starting to never be amazed at what goes on here both in the streets, within businesses and who knows where else.

Today a friend and I went to the airport to pick up an intern that was just here for 6 weeks. She was flying from Mahajanga to Tana and it should have only been about an hour or just a bit more to arrive here.

When she arrived at the airport last night for the flight she was told that the flight did not exist anymore, something about it being a new month and that flight was no longer an option. Then today she arrived early for a 7:30 am flight and it actually left the tar-mack at 7 am - good thing she arrived early. Then the flight ended up going further North to Nosy Be and was there for 4 hours... just when she thought that she was coming to Tana finally after a very long day - the flight was diverted back to Mahajanga where she had started this morning at 7 am, now it is 5 pm and we are hopeful that she will arrive by 6:30 so that we KNOW she will make her international flight out of Tana and back to the United States...

What an experience for her, and yes ONLY IN Madagascar!

Shack

One of my dogs, SHACK, a female Neapolitian Mastiff has had a bit of a rough week.

I came back from the wonderful weekend retreat and found that she had not eaten for over 4 days. She would eat it would just come back up. She was very sick and I was very concerned.

Monday was a holiday here so the local Malagasy vet was no longer an option so I had to take her into the city to an emergency vet clinic started by South Africans.

We arrived early in the morning, much before many people were up and about. It was quiet and Shack stayed by my side at all times trembeling as to what was to come, I am sure. I did not have a leash and did not need one because she was so sick and afraid. She was weighed in at about 18 kilos which is just under 40 lbs if I have figured it out right? (that is something that I struggle with here but am getting better the more I have to do it)

Immediately the people at the clinic took all the doggy information that I had with me and took her into a small room and sat her on the sterile table, pushing on her belly and sticking their finger in her bum to get a sample to run tests on. She yelped only once and the rest of the time was just sticking close to the table and close to me. After about 10 minutes they came back to report that she had at least two types of worms and would need to be put on an IV drip immediately along with an agressive set of other medications in shot format, directly into her skin. And they suggested that she stay overnight for at least 3 nights to make sure that she had the best care and treatment.

I immediately started crying, not sobbing, just tiny streams of wetness gliding down my cheeks. I really wanted her to be ok, and take her home but the best thing for her needed to be considered and it was to leave her there in the care of professional people that do this for a living.

I have gone back each day since then for visits, I am given a cushion so that I can get into her cage with her and sit with her, talk to her and just LOVE on her. It is really hard to see her like this, and it just breaks my heart but I am so blessed that she is getting good care.

Today I realized that sometimes in our lives we have to go through something like this, that we get sick, emotionally, physically or spiritually and we need to see a professional so that we can really be loved on and cared for in all areas.

It has been hard to watch, to go through this, and leave her each day at the clinic, yet on the other side I am rejoicing in the examples that GOD is leaving very carefully for me even through my pets. Praising GOD for today and each day that I get to Grow in HIM.

LOVING WELL - Retreat

Over the weekend I was blessed with a great opportunity to walk through the scriptures with a group of 19 other women on the topic of Loving Well, a Beth Moore study.

I had signed up for this retreat as a last push to break into a group of friends that had been established over the years. This group of women share reciepies, talk about the challenges of raising kids and kid events because that is what their life heavily revolves around. In the states God had surrounded me with these same type of people so why is it so hard to break in to this group here? There were events about once a month over the last year where I would attend and try to have a goal of two deep conversations, getting to know the other women. Well it seemed that my efforts were slamming against castle walls that were in no way ready to break down.

As you can imagine, I went on this retreat with a lot of fear of rejection, of the 20 total there were only 3 singles and I already know both of them very well because we have grabbed hold of each other on different occasions over the last 14 months.

I AM VERY HAPPY TO REPORT that the weekend was a huge success for me personally and for many others from what I heard and witnessed. I was able to have quite a few deep conversations, asking forgiveness and giving it, listening to hurts, walls that were up that were desperately trying to be taken down and all that has accompanied the journey.

SOME EXERPTS OUT OF MY JOURNAL ~

One thing that was very clear was HE will not give THROUGH us until we allow HIM to give TO us. In other words we will not be able to love effectively unless we allow GOD to love on us. We have to receive in order to give. We will not love well until we feel well loved.

Loving people will always involve risk and always mean they have access to hurt us. - this is part of the process and what makes our love in the image of GOD.

In this culture of connections, internet and all the accessories, we have ceased to relate on a HEART level and we are relating on a TALK level.

Perfect LOVE refers to love that is mature, not lacking boldness or confidence, not hampered by insecurity or anxiety characteristic of immature love. (1 John 4:18)

Have a smart heart and love with insight (Philippians 1:9-10)

Dip into GOD and pour HIM out on others... (Isaiah 58: 6-12) We are not healed until we can pour out our lives into others.

Four confessions of love:

1.) GOD is perfect love.

2.) Nothing can separate me from GOD's perfect love.

3.) God pours HIS perfect love int0 my imperfect heart. (Romans 5:5)

4.) Accessed, I can love anyone through anything.

I left this weekend retreat looking at how I allow GOD to love on me, and evaluating how I love on others. How do you love? Are you growing in how you love, who you love and becoming more and more open with vulnerability? Have you been so hurt that you tried to hide your heart away from others, building an impeneatratable wall around yourself?

I am really seeking GOD to show me how to receive LOVE from HIM and from others so that I don't carry around barriers as tall as the great wall of CHINA.

In this final picture - these women cooked for us ladies and heated up water for us to shower each day. What a great opportunity for them to serve us with glad hearts, out of their abundance we were blessed.

I just pray that I can be that blessing to others... GOD and I have a long way to go but I am going to hunker down and work on those parts of me that need mending. Do everything as if unto the Lord, without grumbling and complaining and with a GLAD HEART!