2018 Year in Review

Merry Christmas Family and Friends! The year 2018 is almost over. Recently, a dear friend of mine suffered a tragedy, and it served to remind me that some people really struggle this time of year. Please pray for your friends and family and reach out to anyone you see struggling this holiday season.
You may remember that last Christmas, I hosted a little girl named Sonni from Colombia. Sonni was a joy to host and our whole family fell in love with her. I am happy to tell you that Sonni has a forever family, and they are in the process of completing paperwork to bring her home. The adoption process is slow so please pray for Sonni while she waits. She will be adopted by a family here in Tulsa which means that I will get to see her! I am very thankful that she will have a mom and a dad and two big sisters.
In February, I made a two week trip to Africa. I visited Uganda as usual, and I also visited Malawi and South Africa for the first time. I went on Safari in Malawi and was able to see an elephant in the wild. While in Uganda, I traveled further within the country than I ever have before. As a result, I was able to stand on the North South equator at 0 latitude. In South Africa, I visited Constitution Hill where Ghandi and Nelson Mandela were imprisoned along with many others during apartheid. It was a sobering experience for sure. The trip itself was long and hard. Our return flight from South Africa to DC was 18 hours long! It looks like I’ll be making that trip again in 2019 as well.
I stayed home for a few months and then did some traveling around the US for work in April. I traveled to Florida, Arkansas, and Kentucky. We had a great trip with the whole family to Hot Springs, Arkansas. While we were there, we had a tornado warning and had to take shelter in the closet of our Airbnb. It was a great time of memory making.
Then, at the end of April, I traveled to Ukraine. Back in 2008 and 2009, I managed the Nightlight Ukraine adoption program, but I never got to visit. It was a real treat for me to visit in 2018 with our Ukraine program coordinator. I loved the people and the food. I saw my first hedgehog in the wild! It was funny seeing all the stores with toilet paper with Putin’s face on it. Putin toilet paper! It is funny for so many reasons. On my plane ride back, I sat next to a man who had been a missionary in Ukraine for 18 years. His home was located near Crimea, and he told me about his family having only 3 hours notice to flee their home permanently. They had to abandon their home and all their possessions and have not been able to go back. It’s hard to imagine.
In June, I visited the Texas Nightlight office in Waco. Mom rode along so she could visit the Magnolia Silos of course. Then, I traveled to DC for a conference and did a little advocating with our congressman for positive adoption laws. I had the privilege of meeting Oklahoma Senator James Lankford. Then, I traveled to South Carolina and visited some of my favorite Greenville people!
In July, I went on a real adventure. I took two weeks off work to participate in a Trust Based Relational Intervention camp in Wasilla, Alaska. I thoroughly enjoyed getting to see the Last Frontier. The camp, however, was challenging. I had a great camper, and I learned a lot about exercising patience and living outside of my comfort zone. I made some great new friends around the country, and I have already enjoyed visiting some of them this fall.
In July, I made another quick trip to DC and then again in August. I’ve visited DC more this year than I have in my entire life. In August, I took my mom to the PBR to celebrate her birthday. In September, my brother Brian got married! I am so happy for him and thrilled to welcome his wife Stephanie to the family. At the end of September, I took another trip to South Carolina and Georgia. I had the privilege of attending the wedding of a young man that I helped get adopted from Ukraine when he was 13 years old. It was the highlight of my year to see this strong and godly young man marry his beautiful bride. My September trip bled right into my trip to Branson in October. October brought more travel to our Indiana office and a trip to Nashville. Then, on November 10th, my baby sister got married! The wedding was beautiful, and of course Kassie was a beautiful bride. Needless to say, I’m tired and ready to be home for the holidays. This year God has brought the scripture Psalm 5:12 to me many times. “Surely, LORD, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favor as with a shield.” May you find that God’s favor surrounds you like a shield in 2019.

Getting Off the Guilt Wheel

After traveling for 2 weeks in Africa, I woke up this morning and immediately started feeling guilty about not getting out of bed quickly enough to tackle the day. As I began my day, I started feeling guilty about not exercising, then overeating the night before, then I started feeling guilty because I had not yet cleaned the house; I didn't spend time with my sister last night, and on and on and on it went. Suddenly, I found myself feeling guilty about feeling guilty! According to the dictionary guilt is "the fact of having committed a specified or implied offense or crime." The truth is not being as productive, social, or healthy as I strive to be, is not a specified or implied offense. So, why all the guilt?

Revelation 12:10 "And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers[a] has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God."

Satan accuses us day and night. Day and night people! He accuses us incessantly He wants to keep us on the guilt wheel so that we are unable to actually be productive for God's kingdom. If I am consistently beating myself up for the things I "should" have done according to the world's view (be heathly, exercise, keep a clean house, etc.), how will I find the time or the engergy to do the things I really should be motivated to do? What are the real shoulds?

*Love the Lord my God with all my heart, soul, mind and body.
*Be sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit in my life
*Help those who are hurting around me
*Share the truth of God's love with everyone who doesn't yet know Him

I am a very task oriented person so this guilt thing is a double wammy for me. If I can't check it of the list, guess what? I feel guilty! It's time for all of us to get off the guilt wheel. Recently, I read "Undaunted" by Christine Caine. In reflecting on the story of the good samaritan, God told her this, "Christine, the only difference between the Samaritan and the religious people was that hte Samaritan actually crossed the street. The Samaritan was willing to have his plans interrupted so that he could assist the man. The Samaritan stooped down to lift up the broken one. Stopping and stooping are different. Compassion is only emotion-until you cross the street. Compassion means action. You go to them."

When I read these words, I was reminded that no task is righteous. No task left undone should bring feelings of guilt. The only thing I should feel guilty about is not laying down my life for the lost. Lord, please help me to focus on what really matters and help me to rebuke the enemy when he whispers inadequacy and doubt and guilt to my soul. May I remember to instead be the light in the darkness. That is all you have called me to do.