I'm a Gogo!!!

THE TIME HAS COME! 

At 56 I have arrived at another new chapter of my life story...... grandmotherhood!!! Wow!!! 

(For those unaware, gogo is Siswati for grandmother.) 

A delicate balance between getting older (a prerequisite) and enjoying the miracle and innocence of life! You might ask... didn't you recognize that miracle and innocence when you became a parent? Barely. It was a fleeting realization before I became sleep deprived, overrun with diapers and laundry and overcome by a sense of responsibility and fear of ruining them for life!!! 

Now, I can sit back and marvel at it and appreciate the preciousness of it all. I now know that all parents (you don't realize that as a new parent) make mistakes but as long as they love and nuture their children, love the Lord and try their best, it is all going to sort.

It only took 3 short days, May 6th to May 9th, for me to go from an ex-missionary, senior citizen to becoming a gogo of not 1 but 3 beautiful grandchildren (the most lovely in all the world...in my humble opinion). God has so blessed me since I arrived back to the states with flexibility, that I was able to spend time with them their first 3 weeks of life. What a gift! Living 12 hours away, I now will start living vicariously through pictures and videos (I love the instantaneousness of technology!) I have to say it is probably good that I live so far away so that the "new" parents can call if they need but not have this strong personality butting in on their parenting skills. Again, they will sort it all out. Differently than I probably would but with just as much love and devotion. So let me introduce you to my 3 new claims to fame!

Ryder Keith Chesterman : 7 lbs 15 oz and 21 1/2 inches long

   

   

   

Analyn Rain Chesterman: 5 lbs 8 oz and 18 1/2 inches long

  

Aralei Gracelynn Chesterman: 5 lbs 9 oz and 18 1/2 inches long

Double the fun!!

 

Proud gogo!!!

 

It Was Just A Year Ago Today Part 2

Today marks a year since I landed back in the USA to make it home. What has the year back taught me? Leaps and bounds! It is just different. The lessons and God's truth is the same but it is, shall I say..... worlds or at least an ocean apart from where I was the previous 7+ years!! Not so much that America is so different than Africa but more like "regular life" is so vastly different than missionary life. For one, I don't get to "do life" together anymore. As a missionary your life has to be so interconnected between life and ministry. Even when you aren't in the same ministries you have to rely on each other more. It is hard to explain but you need people to "pick" things up for you because they are making a trip across the border. You have to have each other's back more because there is no AAA if your vehicle breaks down. You need to bounce ideas off each other because your way of thinking doesn't communicate effectively the idea you are trying to express to another culture (or personality). That said though, I have had a wonderfully smooth and blessed transition and it wasn't until last month that God revealed why mine missed some landmines that other missionaries might have encountered.

Epiphany #1: - 30 days of Thanksgiving
When I first moved I pledged to find something I appreciated about my new home every day for the first 30 days home. I felt it was a wise idea for reentering back into America. But only last month did God open my eyes to what the actual benefit of that was and that it was a key to the spiritual warfare that surrounded me! I'm facilitating Priscilla Shirer's study The Armor of God at my church. We were studying the shoes of peace and throughout the study we have been collecting "actionable intel" on Satan (what we learn about our enemy's strategies). One day when I was out walking the dogs, the Lord revealed the significance of my obedience in giving thanks my first 30 days. It did transform my mind to focus on the positives (all places have positives and negatives and you choose which to dwell on) but it was more. Thanksgiving silences the enemy! He gave me the picture of throwing water on the wicked witch of the west in the Wizard of Oz! My reentry went so well because my giving thanks prevented the enemy from many of his attacks! Wow! God is so good even when we don't fully understand the significance of what He is doing!

Epiphany #2:  - God did not call me away from Africa but rather to something different.
"Now glory be to God! By His mighty power at work within us, He is able to accomplish infinitely more than we would ever dare to ask or hope." Ephesians 3:20...This is the verse God gave me for Africa.
Last year - "For I am about to do a brand new thing. See I have already begun! Do you not see it?" Isaiah 43:19 The verse God spoke through a fellow missionary when I announced God was calling me back to the U.S.  A verse that I didn't "see" and still don't fully understand. But again, until this recent study, I hadn't fully internalized that I didn't move because I was leaving something but rather because He was calling me to something new! (Kind of like when He called me to Africa) And this has been so releasing! I don't have the complete picture of what this brand new thing is.... but I DON'T NEED TO KNOW ALL THE ANSWERS! Wow! (Double wow if you know me well.) I trust more. I enjoy the journey more. I treasure the relationship connection more than the tasks. That makes Africa so worth it just on the personal level and America so exciting on a spiritual level. It also led to my 3rd Epiphany....

Epiphany #3 - I'm Different
An extraordinary phenomenon is that I have not been seen as a "returning missionary" but as a fellow Christian seeking God. This lack of being on a pedestal so to speak has allowed me not to focus on the expectations of others but just be a Christian growing in her walk day by day. I can see how much  God has changed my thinking, my strengths, my passions and how I relate to people. I get to share what I learned on the mission field as it pertains to what we are studying but not as a badge unto itself. I love it and am excited to see God intermingle my different experiences to encourage and challenge others. I love seeing how I value honoring others over having an agenda or being "right". I love the pure excitement in soaking in daily the joy, wisdom, peace and love of the Lord rather than focusing on "doing it right". I love living in my identity as God's daughter and not feeling I have to worry about how others perceive me. I am so thankful for the freedom to be and do things differently than I ever did before. To embrace that I am different because He has been changing me....for the better! And for those that have known me a long time, you know what a drastic, only God could have done it, kind of thing! Amen!

So what are some of new beginnings this past year: (just so you know, not because I am a super duper anything)
***First I want to say that I don't volunteer or say yes to anything I haven't prayed about and felt God's "green light"... I have said no to some things but I am doing more than I ever expected or thought possible. God is good!
I now facilitate a women's bible study with 2 different groups at my church (I never led a women's bible study before---my African missionaries are laughing at this because they've tried to get me to do it for years but I didn't feel the call. I do now and am so blessed by the ladies in my groups!).
I teach young children in AWANAS (3-6yr olds)! This was a yes from God when I was hesitant to jump in but I was obedient. It has been exhausting but so rewarding and I love my kids (and my assistant) and am blessed by them!
I volunteer at a local clothing/food bank once a week. I am thankful for a ministry outside my local church that lets me show love and honor and smiles to others in my community and from other churches that I might never have gotten to meet otherwise.
I also am loving having a gym and a great senior center where I can regularly exercise and dance and laugh and encourage other ladies (and be encouraged by them) (I'm known as a Dancing with the Stars Wannabe!)
There are other activities I am involved in where I am able to administrate or encourage or worship or serve and I am richly blessed by them!
In this year I have gotten a stronger confidence to speak up and to speak out about what God is doing in my life. I can openly share what I feel Him encouraging me to say to others. But, this is important and enormous....I'm okay to let the Holy Spirit go from there. If I or someone else make different choices I know there is spiritual growth in failure and it does not always have to be my way.  God time and again works out ALL things for good for those who love Him. I am called by God to work on walking humbly, speaking truth gently, persistently and patiently in love and striving to unite in the Holy Spirit in peace not disunity. I might not fully know what the new pathway God is making for me but that is okay. I am enjoying just walking with Him day by day and saying yes to the different things He gives me that nudge to do.

The future: Currently the future holds becoming a grandmother ("gogo") x 3 in May to one grandson (Michael and Stephanie are expecting May 1st) and fraternal twin granddaughters (Kristopher and Christina are scheduled to deliver on May 9th). They all live in GA. And then in June to be the "cook" for our  youth camp at Falls Creek and to teach in VBS! (They have no idea what a stretch in faith this is for me!)  I'm also feeling a nudge to really step out of my comfort zone and plan a women's luncheon or conference before the end of the year and speak. (Still seeking God about the details of this one and perfectly fine if He closes that door.)

So as I reflect on this past year.... I am amazed at God's grace, goodness, faithfulness and blessing! I remember one year in the middle of my Africa life when I focused on tapping into my "JOY" in the Lord and how much of a struggle it had been for me over the years of my whole life and now I'm not just tapped into, it just seems to overflow! Things aren't perfect and I definitely fall short but God doesn't!  I am excited about the road ahead no matter what "brand new thing" He has already begun! I appreciate my past and am confident that my future is in good hands but more importantly I am excited about today and the blessings it always holds (even when I am fighting the migraines of this past week). Thank you for letting me share. I pray you see the Lord more than me as you have read this and that it blesses your walk with Him.  I might not be as efficient in keeping in touch but know that it doesn't mean I value you less. Love and hugs and high five twirls!!!!

It Was Just a Year Ago Today Part 1

It was a year ago today that I boarded a plane and moved from South Africa back to the United States after spending 7 1/2 years on the mission field in Africa! I always said that Africa was the same just different than when I lived back in the the U.S. and it was. But it was also life changing. Now that I look back I see how 1) God poured into me and grew me and 2) used me to touch others.

1) Missionaries are just regular, fallible people. We are far from perfect. "Us" missionaries would joke that God called us to Africa because we didn't listen and learn well where we came from. I think this is very true. Being a missionary took away so many of the distractions of life so I could be blessed with seeing what was truly important....my relationship with God and others. There is such a peeling away of layers of yourself when you actually "do life" with others. No hiding the real you. I learned submission, communication (okay I did come with a propensity toward that one), patience,  gentleness (still a work in progress), worship from the inside out not superficially, that God is at work even when I don't see it or understand it, that He is faithful even in heartache, pain and loneliness and that God's plan even when I fail miserably at my part, is ALWAYS amazing!!!

2) People...relationships matter. It is not what you "do" but how you do it or not do it with others. One of my first lessons in the field was God using me to be there for Pepe...showing that He put just the right person in the right spot at the right time to fill the need of a specific child! Pepe will grow up and I will be a small piece of her history and her with mine as our lives have gone separate ways but the reality that God is who crossed our paths when she was deathly ill for His greater purpose still blows me away even all these years later!!!
As I said before, I am just a regular person. I am blessed by having been in Africa and of having the privilege of seeing God use my strengths and weaknesses to pour into, challenge, love on (or let others love on me---I love all my hugger friends), listen to and more importantly to let go of (trust God to guide their paths and not me). I see nothing spectacular in any of the things I did, but I treasure knowing that the people I encountered (other missionaries, Africans, visiting Americans, etc), God used me to grow them and them to grow me. He is so awesome and that is probably one of the biggest things I brought back with me!

So tune in tomorrow, on my year anniversary of setting foot back in the good old U.S of A to reside and find out if it is still the same, just different!