A Life Well Lived

As someone that wants to be a world changer and history maker, I have learned a great deal about sacrifice, response to hardship and challenge, forgiveness, redemption and restoration from the life of Nelson Mandela.

He was an extraordinary human being, yet just like you and I, a human being. Unlike most of us, he chose a more difficult path. One of fighting for what he believed in through grace, perseverance, forgiveness and a focus on more than just himself. We may all have our opinions of how he wasn't there for his family, how he started a great deal of unrest and violence before being put in prison, etc. I think sometimes we hold people in the public eye to a standard of never making mistakes and having to have every area of life figured out. However, the one thing I love about Madiba's life is that he owned the mistakes he made, that he reminded us that it's what we do with our mistakes and how we rise again that matters, not whether or not we make a mistake, because we always will.

I'm humbled by the example he set not only politically, racially and justly. More than that, I'm challenged by how everything he accomplished was not merely political but rather how it was his life style, his way of life. So often I find it easy to be a certain way in a program or a specific setting, like we have a switch we can flick on and off. Yet, the example this great man set for us was one in which your way of life, your standards, beliefs and convictions should be the driving force, not a program or specific setting.

As Christians, we read about how we are to forgive, love our enemies, do good to those who hate us, but if we're truly honest and vulnerable, that is probably what we do the least. Caring for people around us how we wish to be cared for. Loving the way we wish to be loved. The list most certainly goes on, but the thing is that we need to pause for a moment and really think about how often we display those. Are they really our way of life? I'm challenged by this and I love how The Lord uses different things to challenge and rebuke us. I know for me Nelson Mandela has always been a man I would have loved to meet, to ask him where he got the strength, boldness and courage to pursue freedom for all men. He is a man I believe understood the Scriptures in a way that I most certainly want to. A man that lived out his convictions and didn't just merely talk about them.


So today, on this bitter sweet day, I'm thankful for a life well lived. For a man that was willing to even die for what he believed in. For a man that forever changed the lives of many of my friends and family. For a man that created a place in the world for young men, just like my husband. For a man that have all people, but especially Black Africans, a leader to look up to, respect, and model life after. For a man that will never be forgotten. For a man that I get to tell my children and grandchildren about. For a man that we were blessed to see live out his convictions. Madiba's legacy will forever live on, may we never forget and never stop telling the story of this life well lived.
   

Celebrating Life

Today marks a special day...it's my birthday. You must be thinking wow that's quite conceited. Yes, everyone's birthday is special, without a doubt. For me, however, my birthdays are special for more than the fact that it's the day I was born. You see it's also the same time of year that God saved me & defeated death. Nine years and three days ago, I overdosed on a significantly large amount of pain killers. I was in a deep dark pit of despair and the gentle whisper of it would all be better if you weren't alive appeared like a glimmer of hope.

However, I was about to learn that real hope is found in one place only...Jesus Christ.

I was rushed to the emergency room after being found on my bed. I had my stomach pumped and loads of blood work taken. None of this I remember. After this I was wheeled into the High Dependency Ward. For some reason, they allowed two of my mum's friends to come and see me and the one thing I heard and vividly remember from that night was one of them saying God saved you for a reason. Even as I write this I can literally hear those words as if it was yesterday. "God saved you for a reason". The next few days were a bit of a blur. However, I celebrated my 18th birthday, which I was never supposed too.

You see, my birthdays are beautiful reminders of the God that saves, redeems and restores. Each birthday is like a kick in the butt for Satan and a reminder that Jesus is victorious. The journey over the past nine years hasn't always been an easy one and it wasn't an immediate change in my life or heart. It has been just that...a journey. A journey in which The Lord has come out on top time and time again. A journey in which Jesus wins. A journey in which I'm reminded that it's only by the saving grace of God that I am here, that Jesus Christ paid for my sin, including my attempted suicide, on the cross. A journey in which the word redemption has never been more real or carries more weight.

So today I'm celebrating life!! Life abundant! Life restored! Life redeemed! Life set free! I'm celebrating a God that is bigger than anything, a God that beat death, a God that wins and a God that loves!! Today I'm celebrating more than a birthday, I'm celebrating all that my birthday reminds me to be thankful for.

Our Journey

I am so overwhelmed by the love of God and how He cares for His people. The past six weeks my husband and I were traveling both the West and East Coast of America. It was a long, adventure filled time. A growing, stretching, challlenging and refreshing time. We were in America to connect with new and previously established partnerships and relationships with us, dare2serve and 9941 media. 

In October 2012, The Lord said now is the time to a call that has been on my husband's life for many years...full time ministry. We had been married 5months when this came about. What going full time meant was following and obeying The Lord but there were no finances coming from Rob if we were to do that. So that would mean somehow we would live off of my salary. That is not an easy task to say the least. However, during the time that God was speaking to Rob, He was ever so faithfully speaking to me too. I could see that my husband was wrestling with The Lord and it was so difficult not to just go to him and say...Hey it's ok, God's told me what we're about to do too. Lets do it. Rather I had to wait for The Lord and Rob to do their thing and for Rob to come to me when he was ready. (This is an awesome lesson I am learning in my marriage.) So, Rob did finally come to me and with out a doubt I told him The Lord had given me peace and that this is what we were going to do. Take note that this was NOT the response my husband was expecting from me. You see, in my very natural self I am an absolute control freak, with my 5-10year plan for everything. However, God had prepared me and done a work in me so that i could support and love my husband that way he was going to need me to. So we took a step of faith and Rob went full time. 

At that time, we were due to move out of the house we had been so blessed to be staying in rent FREE!! So that was a rather big concern, as rent in Harare is expensive and more than I earn. BUT The Lord knew and two days after we officially took this step and everyone around us, in our dare2serve team and our church family knew, we got a text message from the owner of our house saying we could spend the next six months there rent free again! Overwhelmed! Only way to explain it. God had already gone before us and made a way where we thought there was no way. So that was one thing taken care of so that we could focus on ministry and what God would have Rob do. We were blessed and humbled. 

So let me tie this up a little, on this trip we have been looking for people to partner with us and support us while we work on growing and developing 9941media, which is ultimately the way in which we and dare2serve will be supported and funded. We believe in self-sustainability and realize that that takes time and hard work. The hard work part we have down, but the time thing we didnt quite comprehend until we were in it and that's ok because it is all part of the journey and learning from your preconceived ideas and mistakes.

While in America, we had very mixed responses from people but the most common was avoidance. Avoiding eye contact in fear of having to be the one to give or support. This was very difficult for Rob and I to understand, deal with, and respond to. However, God began to show Rob how he and we do that in our lives all the time. We avoid eye contact with the beggar on the street corner or the child at the traffic light. We avoid that feeling of being the one to give and sacrifice something. This was vital for The Lord to reveal to us during our time for many reasons. The most important though was the understanding that in our human nature we are all the same, SELFISH!!! I have to say that that is not always an easy realization. I know that for me as a wife I have been learning that intensely over the past year and it is rough. But it is also full of joy and life when we die to ourselves daily. So we now had an understanding and realization that we are exactly the same. 

We shared in many places, with many people, both young and old, and it was difficult for us to comprehend and understand that The Lord was still at work, even when we couldn't see it. We both reached a place during our trip where we felt broken and unsure of what was to come next. I am learning to deeply value that it is after we have reached the complete end of ourselves that The Lord begins to unravel His plans and His workings. 

As we began the end of our journey in Doylestown, Pennsylvania we felt deflated and finished. We were ready to go home but not for any other reason than we were at the end of ourselves. However, God had many surprises in store for us at the very end. The Lord revealed how HE had placed us on peoples hearts halft way across the world that didn't even know us. Many of them had never met Rob or myself, yet The Lord had revealed something to them about how they could serve HIm and bring HIm glory. All the details of our last week are extremely overwhelming and humbling. But the wonderful part is that God broke us down so that as He poured out His blessing and provision we would have no doubt that it came from HIM and HIM alone. Yes, He used people but it was all Him, not Rob or I, not dare2serve or 9941media...JESUS!!!!!!!! 

My hope is that sharing part of our journey with you encourages and strengthens you. That if you find yourself at the end of your rope, there is light that is coming, hold on, don't give up. If you are at a crossroads and The Lord is asking you to obey Him and trust in Him, my prayer is that you would. Obedience is greater than sacrifice. If you are in the midst of the Lord's supernatural provision, my hope is that you would give ALL glory to Him and that you would write down your journey, because a valley will come again and it is the moments of rejoicing and the hope of eternal rejoicing that keep us going. So whereever you find yourself, I pray that you draw near to the heart of Father God your creator and that you find Him in every season and moment of your life.

Life-Changing Week

Wow…I can’t believe that is has almost been an entire year since I wrote last. This year has certainly been filled with lots of news and moments worth writing about. However, I think this year has also been one of a great deal of internal processing and processing in prayer with the Lord. It has been a year filled with great joy and delight, as well as a year filled with many, many changes. The biggest changes of this year all took place in the space of a week.

May 2012 was a life-changing month in three particular ways. On May 5^th, I graduated from Azusa Pacific University, with my Bachelor’s of Science in Social Work. Yes, I am a social worker. The very next day, May 6^th, I married the love of my life and very best friend, Robert Chifokoyo. The years (literally) of waiting for that day were well worth it, because I am now doing life each and every day with the man God has blessed me with. I am thankful. May 7^th-11^th we honeymooned and that was a wonderful week. May 13^th I moved back to Zimbabwe with my husband. We were on separate flights, which was awful. But May 13^th was a deeply bittersweet day. You see, I was newly married and so very excited for life together. However, on the other hand I was saying goodbye to the life I knew for four years and more than that I was saying goodbye to the family of friends that God had blessed me with during those four years. I would have to say that the thought of that day still stings a little. Who knew that so much excitement and joy could also be wrapped up with so much sadness and uncertainty.  An airport moment has never been so bittersweet as that one was. As I said goodbye to my three beautiful, nearest and dearest friends, words seemed too inadequate in expressing all that we wanted to say. So tears and hugs said what words could not and I got on a plane back to Zimbabwe, to start a new season of life with my husband.

The past six months have been filled with intense adjustment. I believe that marriage is a beautiful adjustment in and of itself. However, I was also adjusting to being in a “new” country, a new church, a new social circle and a new house. It felt like there was a lot of “news” and it was all somewhat overwhelming. Even though I was born in Zimbabwe and lived here all my life until heading to California for school, somehow this didn’t feel like “home” anymore. People would ask is it good to be home and out of not wanting to have to explain I would simple answer “yes!” However, this really wasn’t’ the case. Yes, I love Zimbabwe and I know that in this time this is where Rob and I are called to be. However, it no longer felt like home and I longed for what I hadn’t fully realized had become my home, Azusa, California. So it has been a time of wrestling with how to make this feel more like home and the reality is that it doesn’t. But what it does feel like is peace. Peace that we are where the Lord has asked us to be and we are faithful in that. Many people that I have tried to share with about this huge transition have shrugged it off as “Oh, you’re one of those Zimbabweans that thinks the grass is greener on the other side!” Again, this is not the case. There are things about American culture that drove me insane, that broke my heart, that challenged me to stand up for what I believe in and to not give in to societal norms. But what was there was the family of friends that truly are irreplaceable. My husband always says to me that friends like the ones you have in Cali are once in a lifetime kind of friends. He constantly says how he’s never really seen friendship like that and I have to agree. After six months of being in Zimbabwe, I have to say that friendships here look very different and if I’m completely honest most people say that Americans are so shallow. Yes, perhaps some are. But I also think there are a great deal of Zimbabweans that are shallow. I don’t think we can generalize in this area, because the friends that I have miles away are the deepest and most real friendships I have ever had. They still are and I believe always will be the friends that I share everything with, all the joys and trials that this life may bring. Those women are the ones that make me long for “home”.

It is also the belief of some married people here that once you’re married you don’t need girlfriends or guy friends and I have to say I disagree. There is absolutely nothing wrong with having friends and enjoying the gift that they are. I believe that the women that I have gotten to share life with, helped shape me into the wife that I get to be for my husband. Through their honest, truthful, loving conversations, challenges and encouragements, they were sharpening me and preparing me, even if we didn’t know it at the time. Rob always says how he wishes my friends were closer because he values the importance of friendship and relationship with others. So it has been a journey of discovering what I think on certain things and what Rob and I both value and we most certainly value real, genuine friendship.

Marriage has been a wonderful journey so far and being with Rob each and every day has been enjoyable after years of being apart. I am so thankful for the husband that he is, for his gentle and strong love during this transition time. For his embrace in moments of weakness and weeping, for his heart that continues to pursue me each day. Above all I am so thankful for his relentless love of the Lord and how he continues to encourage and sharpen me in my own walk with the Lord. I am thankful for cooked dinners and clean dishes on occasion. I am thankful for his encouragement and support always, for his belief in my dreams and desires. I am thankful that one day when we start a family, our children will grow up seeing a man that loves the Lord, that is honest about his short comings, that is willing to risk everything for the sake of the Gospel and a father that will love them with all of his heart, just as he does me.

So this is a very small glimpse into the life-changing week in May, which has brought about wonderful things and has taught me that life is bittersweet. That when we follow the Lord, he doesn’t promise for our road to always be easy or for us not to feel lonely, or that life won’t be bittersweet. But what He does promise us is that He will never leave us or forsake us. That is a promise that I am learning to hold onto. 

Merry Christmas

Create a free digital greeting card

The Undecorated Apartment

We all have a need to settle, a desire to be grounded, to have a place called home. We love to decorate our places we call home. It is a way of making them our own, a way of creating a space in the world that is just ours, a place that we can return to at the end of long and stressful days, a place to celebrate and rejoice in, a place that we can share with others, a place that can invite them in. We all desire a place like this. A place that will remain constant regardless of the season. However, I am realizing at the moment that the season in which you find yourself can be evidently expressed in your surroundings without you even realizing it.

This is something I discovered recently when I was sitting in my apartment, looking around at the blank and empty walls with a deep aching that this truly doesn’t’ t feel like home, that this is not my home. I can most definitely say that this self-discovery was a difficult one, as I think being honest with ourselves always is. We all value honesty, however when it comes to being honest with ourselves that is where we find ourselves being the most dishonest. So in this moment of brutal honesty with myself, I realized that my apartment is a very vivid and clear representation of where I am at, the season in which I find myself. I am in my last year of college, senior year baby! Yes it is wonderful but with it comes some interesting aspects and self-discoveries. For me, I found that my undecorated apartment reflected my heart and the state of transition that it is in. Every other year of college my apartment has been decorated and it has been one of my most absolute favorite times of the year. However, this year I have everything to decorate with, but it is all so neatly packed in small boxes just sitting. These boxes are filled with wonderful treasures but the fear of allowing those treasures to come out for a small period of time after which everything will change is daunting. This is true of my heart and the treasures that I hold deep within it, there is a fear of allowing that settling and rootedness to continue knowing that before I know it my heart and my apartment will be packed up and onto the next season of life.

This is a season of transition, a time of reflecting back upon, and a time of looking towards but I think we miss the beauty of the undecorated apartment season. The season in which we just get to sit and look around, behind, ahead but most importantly within. To look, deep within and to find our settling and rootedness in one thing, Christ. By no means do I belittle this season; I am processing through this on a constant basis with the people that are nearest and dearest to my heart. But I do think that this is a time of saying Lord no matter what the undecorated apartment looks like may what resides inside be beautiful and glorifying, that in whatever season we may be, that we remember that the God who loves us is there in the midst of that season, that we are never alone, that our God goes with us.

The thing I love about the undecorated apartment is that it pushes to something more, it pushes you to long for something more, it pushes you to search for home. This doesn’t necessarily mean moving from the undecorated apartment but learning to be fully present in the undecorated apartment, learning to give all of you to where you are right now, to be fully present where you are. Today a wise woman said that God’s will is not found in the future but rather it is found right here in this day right where you are at. For any of you that may be like me, I am a planner, I love to have my ducks in a row, I love to look ahead and plan and map out and look forward to. There is nothing wrong with this but when this takes us away from being fully present where we are, we need to check ourselves. The faithfulness of our God is not only found in what lies ahead it is found in this very day, it is found right where you are. When life gets uncomfortable we tend to run towards the next thing that will make life feel good and comfortable but in this we miss the wonder and awe of a God that meets us in the mist of an uncomfortable season, day, or moment.

The undecorated apartment is teaching me many things about myself, about this season, and about honesty with myself. The undecorated apartment has turned from something that was uncomfortable and frustrating to something that has bought clarity, hope and appreciation for seasons and times. It has challenged me to allow for sitting in the now and opening my treasures up to that, knowing that regardless of how quickly or not the now goes by, there will be another now and that will require the very same thing of me. The undecorated apartment is teaching me to be vulnerable and allowing God to be present with me right here and now in the midst of it.

Missing in action

Yes...I have been missing in action and haven't blogged in a while. Internet here at home (Zimbabwe) is certainly a luxury and something that is hard to come by on a good day. I have so much to write about and will post more as soon as I can...but just wanted to let you know why there hasn't been much posted from me lately. I will post as soon as I can get on the Internet on my computer, currently posting this from my phone :) I hope you are having a happy Tuesday. Love and blessings to you all.

Seduction

This word rings different bells in each of our heads. However, for me I am learning the things that I am seduced by. Seduction isn’t merely a woman seducing a man. We are seduced by many things, media, music, books, TV, stories, products, shoes, purses, and technology. The list could go on. We are seduced. It is up to us whether or not we choose to acknowledge that and if we are willing to look at what we are seduced by. I am realizing that my greatest seduction is perfection, everything being right. I am constantly seduced by the concept of everything being perfect, my life, my hair, my makeup, the things I do, my school work, ministry, the way I set things up, the way I write things, how I talk, how I present myself, how I help people. I am seduced by this thing called perfectionism. It looks beautiful, fulfilling, meaningful and wonderful from a distance. However, once you buy into the lie. It is like poison. It runs through your veins in a vicious way, devouring every ounce of grace in your life. You become consumed by everything needing to be perfect. I am addicted to the chase of perfection. It is an exhausting, draining and never-ending chase. It may not kill you physically, but emotionally and spiritually it begins to kill you slowly. It eats away at your joy, your hope, your freedom, the gift of life that we have each and every day, the mercies of the Lord that are new with each day, the grace God gives us and it takes away from the fact that the only perfect part of life is God. He is a perfect God. We are not perfect and He does not call us to perfection. Yes, He calls us to strive with all that we have to serve and glorify Him, but not perfectly, simply whole-heartedly. I am learning that when I try to make everything perfect I short change my God. I tell Him that He is not needed, that I am in control and that I can do it all perfectly. Instead of leaving me and walking away from me, He gently waits. He waits to help me, to mend the broken pieces that I create in my crazy addiction of achieving perfection. He gently reminds me that it is in my imperfection that He shines through and is seen as the perfect and loving God, that in my weakness He is made strong. That is a hard concept for me. I don’t like to think of myself as weak. That word defines something that our culture, our peers, our families, they all tell us it is not okay. We are told to be strong, to hang in there, to keep fighting, to keep going. However, I believe it is ok for us to stop in our moment of brokenness, of hurt, of betrayal, of sin, of weakness, to stop being strong and to allow Him to be made strong, allow Him and all His grace, redemption and mercy to shine through. I am learning that there is no other way to face life than allowing our God to be strong, to be our strength, because it is that strength that speaks loudly to the world because it is incomprehensible.

So today, I don’t know what you are seduced by, there are many things for each of us and perfection is only one of mine, but it is a HUGE one, it is the one that I am having to surrender in prayer not every day, but throughout the day, because it is there lingering in everything I do. My hope is that we can be honest with ourselves and with the people in our lives that we trust and love. That we can share what seduces us, what entices us, because when we realize and acknowledge what it is we can begin to seek freedom, freedom in Christ, freedom to be weak so that God can be who He is, strong and mighty, just and loving, forgiving and restoring.

Home

I am realizing that home is more than a place…it truly is where your heart is…my heart is in Africa, in Zimbabwe, but more than that Rob is becoming my home. I am realizing that this beautiful place Zimbabwe will always be my physical home, but the feeling of home is with Rob. I am at home when I am with him and for this I am thankful. I am thankful because I know that no matter where in the world the Lord has us or calls us, whether it is here in Zimbabwe our home or a foreign land somewhere else, Rob is home for me and that as long as we are together we can make another place “home”.

I have really been thinking about life in three different countries and it has been a lot of hard processing for me, I deeply wish that the very different but very special three worlds in which I live could all collide in a beautiful way. I wish my wonderful American friends could see the beauty of the place that I call home, I wish my family could return to the place that they call home too. This season is a hard one for me if I am completely honest. I daydream of what it could be like having my bestest friends be here in Africa with me, to grow old together, to see each other get married, to watch each other have children and create a family, to laugh together, to cry together, to pray together, to worship together, to do life together, just like we do now.

I never thought it was true that the friends you make in college will be your friends forever…well here I am…knowing full well that that is true…that the girls that I have been with for the past three years are the friends that will be in my life forever, if we are a couple continents away and some 32,000miles away…they are my life friends, my heart friends, my soul sisters. I love all of you deeply and am so thankful for the blessing of true friendship. Thank you for creating home for me when I am far away from my physical home as well as my emotional home, Rob. Thank you for being my home away from home.

Summer Surprises

I love surprises, whether small or big, I think they are great!!! J I am so happy that I got to surprise my amazing fiancé. I arrived home three days earlier than he was expecting me to and the look on his face and his very high pitched scream of excitement were priceless!!!! I love seeing him overjoyed and happy. This was a beautiful moment! I am excited for this summer and all that the Lord has for us, for ministry, and for friends and family. May this summer be filled with many more sweet surprises…

Airports and Africa

I made it! I have been traveling for three days to Zimbabwe…three plane rides and four different countries and here I am…home! Along my journey there were many mixed emotions partly to do with what I wrote about previously in The End Of Junior Year… the other part was filled with great excitement and then the other part was wonder and mystery…just as I was on a journey, there were thousands of other people all on journeys at the same time as me. I was filled with wonder as to where they could be going, are they travelling alone or together, are they happy or are they sad, are they tired or is this just the beginning part of their journey….so many thoughts. Anyway I wanted to know…I wanted to know their journey, their story and then I wondered why this was important to me and I realized that I wanted to know their story, their journey is a part of their story in one way or another, but I was deeply desiring to know their stories. See the importance of story has become so evident in my life over this past year…there is power in your story…there is pain, beauty, redemption, grace, healing, abounding joy, grief, whatever it may be…your story has meaning. I never believed that my story had meaning, because all I felt with my story was a whole lot of shame and guilt and those emotions are lies and tools from the enemy, I knew that, I just didn’t believe it. However, over this past year I have had to share my story time and time again, as a leader within my campus community. The first time I ever shared my life story in full was on an 11day-hiking trip in the wilderness with a group of fellow leaders whom I hardly knew. The next morning after sharing my story I had the most amazing quiet time with the Lord where He reminded me that my story was not about me and my decisions, both good and bad, but that it was about HIM that it was about His Redeeming Love, His mercies, His grace, and that it was all for His glory and that when I share my story it is only one of the many examples of how good of a God He is and that HE changes lives.

So what is your story? What are the parts of your story that you are ashamed of? What are the parts of your story that you are proud of? I believe that your story has meaning and that God can use it to show His glory wherever and with whomever you choose to share your story with. So I challenge and encourage you to start sharing your story. It has meaning!

The End of Junior Year

As the end of another school year dawns on me…there are many mixed emotions that I feel. I am filled with excitement and joy at the thought of leaving for Zimbabwe in a few days…the excitement and joy there is in seeing my amazing man and spending three whole months together over joys my heart. I can’t wait to be there serving the Lord with him, laughing with him, talking with him, loving him and simply soaking up each and every sweet moment with him.

Although there is a huge amount of sweetness ahead, there is also this bitterness that lies in this up coming season, not a resentment type of bitterness but rather a bitter-sweetness. As this year comes to an end, I only have one more year until I have my Social Work degree and until I return home, those two things fill my heart with great excitement. However, there are some goodbyes that lie ahead. I have spent three(soon to be four) growing, challenging and beautiful years at APU with some amazing people that will forever be a part of my life. However, some will not and I will be saying goodbye and even the ones that will, it doesn’t make saying goodbye any easier. I remember the very first time I left Zimbabwe and someone said to me the goodbyes will get easier each time, oh how they were so wrong. The goodbyes on both sides of the world get harder and harder each time. My life seems filled with goodbyes, well I guess more like see you laters, but boy oh boy are they extremely hard see you laters. Having three countries in the world that have some very special people, is a hard place to be, Zimbabwe, England and America. Zimbabwe and the people that are there, my Rob, is my home, it is the place my heart yearns for. England has my very precious family, my mum and my brothers. America has the place I have developed my skills, passions, and where I have made the most wonderful girlfriends that I get to do life with each and everyday. We have walked through heartaches, deaths, family separations, betrayals, as well as great achievements, jobs, celebrations, awards, leadership opportunities, and huge God moments in each of our lives. These girls have become more than my friends they have become my sisters, my family. Then there are the woman that have poured into my life in ways that I could never have imagined or dreamed of, that have gone to doctors appointments with me, sat by me in the hospital, had lunches and coffee dates with me, have walked through trying times and rejoicing times, these woman have been salt and light in my life, they have sat quietly with me and they have spoken words of truth over me. They are woman that have been used by God to continually shape and mold me.

I know I still have a year ahead of me filled with great moments but this past weekend I went to watch some of my beautiful friends graduate and got to partake in the bitter-sweetness of that moment with them and my heart for the first time truly felt the weight of the season that lies ahead for me. It’s not a negative weight or a negative season, it truly is a bitter-sweet one, which is beautiful. You see there wouldn’t be any problem if this was hard because it was negative, the difficulty lies in that this is beautiful that the relationships I have in many parts of the world are deep and real and genuine and that that is why saying goodbyes is hard, because we have some special. I am so very blessed to know and be known by all these beautiful people. I am blessed to have something to grieve over saying goodbye to. I am blessed that walking out of one season and into another is both beautiful and extremely hard. I am blessed because my life is deeply enriched through all of these moments I have shared and will continue to share with people over the next year and then the years that are still to come too. I am blessed.

Thank you God for beautiful people, for beautiful moments, and for beautiful seasons. Thank you that the bitter-sweetness of life is a beautiful and hard thing and thank you that I have an enriched life through the people that you have brought my way. Thank you that as we embark on another part of this journey and another season, that you are there with us, in the bitter moments and in the sweet ones. Thank you that you are ever-present. Thank you for life, friends and family. AMEN.

Happy Birthday

Today is a very special day…it is my mum’s birthday!!! 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MUM!!!

I am so thankful for her life and for the life that she has given and created for me over the years. She is an amazing mother, friend and confidant. My life most certainly would not be the same without her. I am thankful that another year has passed filled with life, joy and beauty and that I have gotten to spend precious moments with her.

Here are some of the things that make my mum who she is…

her strength

her love

her joy

her contagious laugh

her smile

her compassion

her forgiveness

her gentleness

her hope

her belief

her listening ears

her wisdom

her heart

her generosity

her determination

her perseverance

her courage

her bravery

her selflessness

her thankfulness for life

her hugs

her kisses

her presence (even when miles away)

her protection

her helping hands

Today I don’t get to be right next to my mummy to hug and kiss her happy birthday, but none the less here it is ma…HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! I love you so very much!!! I pray that the Lord continues to bless you in the days and years that still lie ahead and may you find rest, peace, hope, faith and love in Him! You are His beloved!!! Have the most amazing day mummy, I am so thankful for your life and this beautiful day that we get to celebrate your birth!!! You are loved mummy!! Thinking of you, celebrating you, and missing you!!! xxx

You are more

This week more than ever I have needed to be reminded that I am more…that I am more than the mistakes I have made…I am more than the choices I have made in the past…that I am more…That I am fearfully and wonderfully made…that God calls me His and that I am created in His image…that I have been remade…that I am more not because of what I have done but because of what Christ has done!!

“I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” – Psalm 139:14

“So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” – Genesis 1:27

“We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” – Romans 6:4

I am so thankful for beautiful songs and for artists that put into words the thoughts of many and that reflect the heart of our God in the music they make. I heard this song a couple of weeks ago and thought it was so good, little did I realize that it would be a tool of reminding me of who God is and who I am because of Him.

I hope this speaks to your heart as much as it did mine J

Tenth Avenue North – You are More

 Have a wonderful Monday!!!

My Special Treat

Ok…so seeing as I have recently committed to and promised myself to write more (based off of my written things blog) instead of going out and buying a new journal I did something else…I got my blog designed!!! J

Doesn’t it just look beautiful?!

A BIG thank you to a beautiful and gifted woman, Christa!!! I highly recommend her...you can discover more about her and some of her other designs here. She is wonderful!!

So…I am loving my newly designed blog and this season of renewed writing.

Hope you are all having a beautiful Saturday!

Written Things...

So there is something solid about something that is written…love poems…stories…the Bible…goodbye letters…in each of these there is something solid. I am someone that loves to write…I have been writing journals for years now and have boxes full of them. However, over the past few years of life my journaling has been sporadic…here and there…I have maybe made it through 4 or 5 journals over the past three years…that for me is terrible. Usually in 3 months I could go through more than 4 or 5 journals. My mum always bought me journals as well as friends, because every one knew that that was the perfect gift for me…too write away.

Writing for me has been my release my escape…my way of surrendering. However, for the past couple of years there has not been a lot of that and so I find myself here where I am today and realize that I haven’t been surrendering…releasing or processing in the way that I know is the healthiest for me. Not journaling has been another way that I have been running…another way of attempting to be in complete control. So here it is the beginning of a new season for me…a season of finding the rest that comes when I write because when I write I am not merely writing, I am letting go … forgiving … releasing … surrendering…processing but above all…I am ultimately healing!!! I don’t write merely for the enjoyment or the satisfaction of having people read it but rather writing is the way in which I allow myself to be vulnerable…I open the parts of me that not many times are opened and the parts that not many people get to share in…those hidden parts…those sacred parts…but here I am getting vulnerable because there is something beautiful that happens when we strip everything away and we are who we are … whole … broken…hurt…happy…scared…brave…ugly…beautiful…all of us is revealed when we choose to be vulnerable…because it is in that moment that we realize its not even about us but rather it is about our big and powerful and mighty God that holds us oh so gently in the palm of His hand. That when we are vulnerable His glory shines through because without Him we are nothing.

So today as I write I am thankful for the healing that is happening in me…for the grace and glory of the Lord that shines through my weaknesses…I am thankful for vulnerability and for the gift of writing. I am thankful for written things…for the solidity we find in things written…the writings that will tell of the seasons and changes in life but beyond that the written things that will remind us of the glory of our God and that through whichever written things, He remains the ultimate writer and author of everything and that what He writes is good and perfect. 

Some of the things I love...

I love…my family. I have been blessed with the most amazing mum! She is a woman that goes above and beyond in everything in life. Her courage, strength and determination inspire me. She is fun loving and I don’t know anyone that finds it hard to get along with her. I am thankful for the values she raised me with and for the heart to love all people no matter what. I deeply hope that one day I will be a beautiful mother just like her. My two younger brothers are wonderful. They are growing into great young men and I am so proud of both of them and love them deeply.

                                                                 Brad, Me, Boyd, Mum

I love…my soon to be family. They are wonderful people with big hearts and a lot of love. They have embraced me with a genuine love and care, even before I was going to be part of the family.

The Chifokoyo Men

Rob (my fiance), TJ, Julius (future father-in-law), Mudiwa, Karl

Olivia (future mother-in-law) 

Tj and Melissa

Caelis and Kieran (niece and nephew)

I love…my girl friends…I am so thankful for each and every one of them…for the joy they bring to my life. There is a depth like no other to these relationships…they are more than friends…they are my family. We have bonded over coffee dates, movies, living together, traveling together, crying together, laughing together and doing life together no matter how wonderful or how challenging. They add beauty and sincerity to my life. They are an amazing example of being the body. They are my life-long treasure, friends and sisters whom I love deeply.

 Beansie my bestie

Nicole, me, Augusta

Beans, Schmeller, Schmouse

 My beautiful Butterfly (Asher)

Me, Regina (Gigi) and Bre

 Me and Nicole (AKA Schmeller...roomies for all 4years of college)

 Me and Megan (my beautiful angel of a friend)

 Nicole, Megan, me, Beans

(A day that I will NEVER forget)

I love…the children in Zimbabwe that have forever changed my heart. I am thankful for each of their lives and the blessing of being a part of their lives. I love them deeply. The joy that beams out of each of them is deeply moving and profound. Their smiles are filled with a deep sense of gratitude for life each and every day, it is humbling. I have learned life lessons and values from spending time with them; they change my life every moment. I have learned grace, humility, thankfulness, patience, perseverance, determination, faith and HOPE from each of them. So they are one of the areas of my life that I love the most.

 Anna and Tino

 Me and Tino

 Blessing (AKA BB)

 Gamu

 Tadiwa

 Tino

Rob teaching/talking to some of the kids

I love…when people have a heart to change the world, when they desire justice and equality for all, when they appreciate that Christ sacrificed everything for ALL people, when people will go beyond their comfort zones to not only meet the needs of others…but to empower them to meet their own needs, to equip them and educate them. I love when people love others.

Redemption Soap

Heavenly Treasures

31 Bits


Ekisa

I love…the ocean…there is something serene and humble and peaceful about being by the ocean. God’s creation is breath taking and the ocean is just one of the examples of that. I love the feeling of the sand between my toes and the water washing up on my feet, as I gaze into the vast mass of water that lies ahead of me. There is something very special about water for me, it represents life and renewal, and it washes away dirty stains and cleanses wounds. It is representative of the Living Water, Christ.

I love…arts and crafts. Making things with my hands is deeply rewarding and satisfying. I enjoy seeing something unique and beautiful made out of something that appears to be nothing.

http://eisymorgan.blogspot.com

http://somedaycrafts.blogspot.com

http://handmaderecess.blogspot.com

http://pinklemonade-blog.com

I absolutely love quotes…they can be inspiring, challenging, refreshing, emotional, simple, unique, quirky, light-hearted, sincere…they can be anything really and for the most part I will love them. They are small gems found in the places you least expect them sometimes.

“Being unwanted, unloved, uncared for, forgotten by everybody, I think that is a much greater hunger, a much greater poverty than the person who has nothing to eat.” - Mother Teresa

“Words which do not give the light of Christ increase the darkness.” - Mother Teresa

“An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.” -Martin Luther King, Jr.

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” -Martin Luther King, Jr.

“Prayer without action grows into powerless pietism, and action without prayer degenerates into questionable manipulation." - Henri Nouwen

“You are more than dust and bones. You are spirit and power and image of God. And you have been given Today." - Shauna Niequist

"Love is always bestowed as a gift-freely, willingly, and without expectation. We don't love to be loved; we love to love." - Leo Buscaglia

‎"True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar; it is not haphazard and superficial. It comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring." - Martin Luther King, Jr.

I love…African sunsets! They are breathtaking!