Proud to be an American

Yesterday at church the pastor asked for those who served in the United States military, past and present to stand up. I think it was about a third of our congregation! He then had each give their name and their branch of service and when they served. 

There have been times that I missed my life in Africa and there will be more in the future I'm sure. But yesterday and today I am full of emotion and gratitude for being an American. Sometimes we get caught up in the current apathy or disagreement with how things are currently done in America but yesterday as they went from person to person,  and they shared their branch (army, navy, air force, marines, and reserves) and war or years they served (WWII, Korean, Vietnam, Cuban missile, Desert Storm, active reserve) the Lord just impressed upon me how blessed I am. Today as I see posts online and items in the news, as I see the flags waving at my dad's cemetery and other places, parades and people wearing red, white and blue, I pray that America will remember to be United. I pray that we will support each other and love each other even when we disagree and remember our past. I pray that we all look toward the face of God and recognize how truly blessed we are. 

It is in our unity that He has made us strong.

I feel America has lost sight of it's blessing because we continually focus on the faults not the strengths. I watched Mom's Night Out last night (hysterical and not necessarily patriotic) but the line about God didn't make a mistake in making you. Each of us are made for a purpose. If we unite in encouraging that in each other what a glorious strong nation we will be.

I am proud to be an American! I am blessed by God to be here and to remember all that He has done for me and His sacrifice! I am also deeply thankful for those who have protected and served in every branch of our armed forces! Thank you being willing to give your life for mine!

For Now....

Wow! I've been living (not visiting) in the states, (Broken Arrow, Oklahoma to be exact) for just over 2 months now. So I think it is time. Time for me to share a bit of my new journey.

I have peace. Peace that my time in Africa was up. But what I don't have is answers. I honestly don't know why my time in Africa was up or my time back in the states needed to begin. I thought I did. I thought it was because my mom would be needing me. That belief probably made it easier for me to leave, but I have now learned it is not why God called me back. My mom might be 80 (almost 81) but she is very capable of caring for herself. She does have some short term memory issues but it is not expected to progress and in fact in recent neuropsychological testing, she scored in the "very superior" range in her nonverbal and "superior" in her verbal. Even in areas of issues she only dropped to "average" or "mildly impaired. All that to say, she is far from needing my "help".

So, I have no clue to God's plan for my long term future. I do know that He has grown me A LOT in my faith journey because before I went to Africa, I couldn't function without a plan, without knowing the reason behind it all. But I can function. I am not frozen in the limbo but able to embrace the now. For now, God is stretching me. Now God is having me LEAD (I prefer to say facilitate) 

a women's bible study.

 For now, God is helping me prepare to teach a WHOLE week at YWAM in July. 

For now, I am helping a friend write the book she feels led by God to write.

For now, I'm not sure what the future holds. I just am confident who holds it. 

That's all ...... for now!