May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. - Romans 15:13

Monday, July 26, 2010

life's to short...

today I lost a dear sister, cousin, and friend.
today I was reminded how important a simple phone call is, a knock on the door, a text...just to say you love them.

have you taken the time today to tell the ones you love, how special and important they are to you?

well if you haven't then stop reading this and go do it. yes, i do mean now.

Jesus is our ultimate comforter! He has a reason for bringing Robin home today, and so all His glory must be shown! While we just don't understand, but at the same time...understanding is just out of the question. For if we knew the answer, I truly believe, we couldn't handle it. God has this perfect plan of glory...and Robin was a part of it today.

Robin was 44, it's just to young. But any life taken is just to young. But knowing and trusting she is up in heaven having a grand old time with her mom and dad and all the people that have gone before her...knowing that, helps. it doesn't cover all and make everyone happy or pain free...but it helps.

Pain will come and go...some days will be easier than others. but as for today the wound is fresh, and deep.
So i leave you with this...instead of filling the wound with the generic stuff from the world...fill it with Jesus...the SUPER GLUE!

Saturday, July 24, 2010

the rush of a life time

is running up the escalator to see your family with balloons and a welcome home sign all wearing pink just anxiously awaiting you to come up; a lady saying "NO RUNNING", but don't worry you don;t stop and listen to her...you keep running ...running straight into their arms, tears running down your face and never wanting to let go!

 





I'm home! let me say that again...I'M HOME! what a great feeling that is! I got to spend a few days with just my mom and dad and grandparents and my best friend in Tennessee and just catching up with them was wonderful. I've missed so much! The time with them was needed! But now I'm home! And I love it! I get to go to church in the morning...I am soooo excited! I have missed my church so much! My dad is preaching and my whole family (or what it seems like) is coming along with Meagan - all to hear him preach!
I haven't heard him preach since we were at Shiloh...I am very excited to hear him! I think he is a great preacher! Yeah, I might be a little biased but i don't care!

I am going to continue to post blogs about the things I learned and saw...but i do want to say this...anyone who has questions or just wants to know about it, please just ask! i will be happy to tell you all you want to know about it!
The Lord rocked Africa! There is so much to tell! ...and I want to share it with you!

 


Sunday, July 18, 2010

What an amazing trip with an amazing end! Saying goodbye to all the wonderful people we have met and trying to learn the tools to bring everything we've learned back to the states!
I am very much looking forward to coming home but very sad I am leaving the amazing work that is happening here in cote d' ivoire!
Please pray for safe travel...we are all very excited to see paris for a day and a half!
Talk to when I'm back in the states!
Em

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

time is running out...

Acts 20:24
“But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus – the work of telling others the Good news about the wonderful grace of God.”

So lets recap…I arrived in Abidjan 5 weeks ago yesterday and since then I have experienced new foods, new housing, new friends, a new culture, a new language, and definitely a new intimacy with the Lord. I have walked with students as they first hear about the wonderful love of Jesus, and watch them accept Him into their hearts. I’ve seen other students grow in their faith, as they renew their faith. I’ve seen old faiths freshened by just once again realizing God’s unfailing love and grace.
When people say you must preach the gospel to yourself on a daily basis…. it is totally true! Talking people through the gospel on a daily basis has brought a renewed freshness to my faith! It just blows my mind Jesus died on the cross…for me! FOR ME! ( and you, don’t you worry! ;) )
I got the privilege of celebrating my 21st birthday while being here. And if you have been apart of past birthday celebrations please don’t take offense to this…but this was by far the BEST birthday ever! I got the honor of going and sharing the gospel and having fellowship with the amazing people that are on this trip with me. It was just an awesome day! I got emails after emails and facebook notifications after notifications with birthday wishes that made me feel more loved than one could ever dream. I felt so blessed, and still do!
There are so many different things that I’ve seen and smelled here that I have been trying to figure out how to describe them to people back home…but I can’t! The sights are so different than what I have ever imagined. There is the very high, nicest of things and buildings, and then the very low, run down buildings and sights. I’ve smelled things that one person should never smell or really expect to smell. And then there are some smells that remind me of home…like the beach. I’ve been to the beach here and it is beautiful. It is very different than back home on the east or west coast but it’s the beach and it’s beautiful nonetheless.
Two weekends ago we went to Yamoussoukro the capital of Cote d’ Ivoire; to my surprise much smaller and not as nice as Abidjan. We saw where the president lives, the university there, a mini market, and we got to go swimming. We also got to go see the largest basilica in the world. It’s hard to describe how small you feel next to something so massive and so beautiful (don’t worry, I have pictures!) We stayed in a hostile, which was actually really fun and clean!
Well we may not have been in America for Fourth of July but we didn’t need to be! We had our very own party right here in Africa! We invited a bunch of our new friends from the university over and some staff from Crusade and had ourselves a BBQ! While they didn’t necessarily taste the EXACT same, it was very good! We had cheeseburgers, hot dogs, French fries, and chocolate chip cookies…served with lemonade! We couldn’t find fireworks…. not shocking, lol but we found a nice substitution of confetti bombs which where a huge hit! We all thoroughly enjoyed the party, and we think the Ivoirians did too!
Now the countdown begins…two weeks from today we will all be home….if we were all truly honest we would probably say we are getting pretty excited and maybe some a little anxious! We do love it here! And we love being with each other and sharing the gospel! But we do miss our families and friends and can’t wait to tell them all about the marvelous things the Lord is doing here in Cote d’ Ivorie and in our own lives!
We will spend the next two weeks on campus preparing the students for when we leave to continue on with cru and how to get involved! This Friday we are going to an orphanage, which I can’t wait for! I am so excited, but I also realize leaving the kids will be harder than I will probably ever be able to imagine.
Our team statement…
One Calling. One Answer.
One Gospel, 1 GOD.
One Summer. 21 Servants.
Cote D’ Ivorie 2010

See you soon!
With all my love, Emiley