In the name of being "weird"

I am sitting in my living room surrounded by books, blankets, candles, picture frames and throw pillows. This morning I made an omelet with more ingredients than a five course meal. I just bought a sleeping bag on-line not because I have a trip planed but because I crave adventure and had a coupon. In the past year and a half, I have gone to living in one of the poorer countries of the world to living in America (and living like an American).

For the past  few months, the Lord has been tugging on my heart to decrease so He can increase in my life. So naturally I've been pushing back, but yesterday while sipping a cup of coffee and curled up with Jen Hatmakers "7" I decided to dive in.

While reading the intro of this book, my heart began leaping. For the past year I have been dreaming and planning but taking no action.  In July, I will leave my current job and began travel nursing in hopes of building relationships so I can hopefully better serve the underserved and underdeveloped countries of the world through better access to health care. But this is still a dream and only that. It may be years before the vision the Lord has placed on my heart will have a name and faces behind it and "7" is something I can do now.

The idea behind is "7" is to take "seven months, identify  seven areas of excess, and make seven simple choices to fight back against the modern-day diseases of greed, materialism, and overindulgence. In the spirit of a fasting, the book encourages to pursue a deeply reduced life in order to find a greatly increased God."

In the first chapter the question is asked "Why are you doing this?" and one response is "You always have to be doing something, don't you"
Jen's response to this is what I pray my heart in this experiment can be

"Maybe I am turning into a girl who always has to have something, I don't know. What I do know is that my "something" is a desire to look more like Jesus" 

What a difference a year makes...

Looking at the date of my last blog entry, it is hard to believe how much time has passed since I left Kenya.  The past year has been incredibly humbling and recently I have missed blogging - even saying that sentence is humbling for me, but writing helped me process my time in Africa and processing is something I think I need a little more of in my life so here it goes.

I have been working at the Children's Hospital in Chattanooga for 1 year today! I have learned so much about nursing, service, and discipline this past year and so much of that is because of my job. I have also fallen in love with my co-workers, my patients, and their families; however, because of the nature of what I do this has left me with a broken heart. Whether from the pews of a funeral, the background of a birthday party, or the bathroom in the break room, the tears I have cried over these sweet kids are too many to count.

A year is a good length of time to look back and reflect and I am praying that just as the Lord so graciously led me to Africa when my heart was not in the right place and then placed me in this job He will continue to lead me to what is next and that I will have an obedient spirit - but I am constantly feeling the pull of our culture, being able to support myself, and what is most important in life. How will all of these align?

Even as that sentence comes off my fingertips onto this white page I can feel the tug of the Lord on my heart. How many times will I need to be reminded of His character - He wants to give me good things and thank goodness His plans are not mine.

Holy Cow!

I cannot believe my time in Kenya is coming to an end! What a sweet time the past few months has been. 

If a picture is worth 1,000 words then this video is probably a novel. Here is over 1,000 pictures from my time in Kenya. The Lord is good!  Click here

JOYFUL! JOYFUL!

In honor of American thanksgiving and all things pumpkin spiced I decided to see how many things I could count to be thankful for… here are a few

1. The rooster and hen who have made their home outside my window

2. Saturday flag football games

3. Long walks and good talks with Havvah and Laura 

4. Homemade guacamole with a side of cookies for second lunch 

5. The sound of the rain on my tin roof

6. My tuesday night bible study girls 

7. The sweet ladies who sell fresh fruits and vegetables outside the hospital

8. Game nights 

9. Bernard who lets me milk his cows any time I want

10. Fall Parties

11. Baking adventures with Havvah

12. Purity's smile 

14. Little hands

15. Seven wonderful years with this woman of God

“The brave who focus on all things good and all things beautiful and all things true, even in the small, who give thanks for it and discover joy even in the here now, they are change agents who bring fullest light to all the world.”  –Amy Voskcamp

Meet Mercy

“And in His last hours before His earthly end He doesn’t run out to buy something or catch a flight to go see something but He wraps a towel around His waist and kneels low to take the feet of His forsaker and gently washes away the grime between his toes.”

As part of my rent in Kapsowar a lady comes once a week and washes my clothes. Her name is Mercy. Mercy has been working at station for two years and has a smile that lights up a room but the thing that has struck me the most about her is the attitude she serves with. She is simply delightful and I think when she is washing Jesus is truly delighting in her.

My goal for this week is to more like Mercy and more like Jesus when it comes to serving others. 

Sweetly Broken

“It has always seemed to me that broken things, just like broken people get used more; its probably because God has more pieces to work with” –Bob Goff

Walking down the street here allows me to see some pretty awesome stuff, but one of my favorite things to do is watch the kids play.  The things they find and use as toys are not only creative but its also teaching me a lot about the beauty in finding a purpose for broken things.

There are so many things in this world that are broken and recently I have been thinking a lot about the idea of brokenness…. brokenness of things, brokenness of humanity, and my own brokenness. Thankfully being here has also made me come to love brokenness, especially my own.  Jesus can use me, not just when I’m broken, but especially because I’m broken and this truth has been so fun to learn while I have been out here.

“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong”

2 Corinthians 12:9-10

“From the bow of brokenness, God launches the arrows of healing.” –Louie Giglio


IN OTHER NEWS!!!! KATIE AND CARSON ARE ENGAGED!!!! I cannot wait to be yalls third wheel all the way down the aisle! Love you both!

Carson, we were dreaming about this day way back in 2009... see

New Beginnings

“But I know this: when Jesus invites us on an adventure, He shapes who we become with what happens along the way” – Bob Goff

Well my first week in Kapsowar is over and so far so GREAT! I really think I am going to enjoy being here. The past three months have been kind of a whirlwind from ABO to Kibera and now to Kapsowar, but I feel really blessed that I have gotten to see so many parts of Kenya and so many different ministries during my African Adventure! 

In Kapsowar I am getting the opportunity to use my passion of nursing to love on people and I can’t even explain how fun it has been to be in a hospital again AND I'm getting to play teacher and teach bible and english at the elementary school a few days a week! 

Plus there is a good chance I'm living in the most beautiful place on the planet. 

“Yet I find that events do not change souls. It’s our response to them which finally affects us. I do not want to miss one lesson” –Elizabeth Elliot

I think this quote is going to be my prayer for my time in Kapsowar! Please be praying that I will have an Elizabeth Elliot spirit and suck the life out of the next two months.