Snapshot of 2008

This is a little slide show I made as I have been sharing with people here, it got a bit long, I apologize for that. It's there. Just press the play button.
Be blessed.

Is this a problem?

I am wondering if this is a problem?...Yesterday I was talking to my sister on the phone and she said to my 2 year old nephew, "Taylor, do you want to talk to Auntie?" I say over speaker phone, "Hi Taylor, how are you?"
I then hear the little squirt say, "AUNTIE, NO!! No, Auntie, I don't have any money!"
I am not sure where that came from but it made me think, and laugh (he comes up with the darnedest stuff!).
It may soon be time for me to work on something more than my tan.
After having a great week with my cousin I continue to pray for clarity as to what direction my life is to be heading. Please join me in praying as I have some big decisions to make.
Thanks for being there for me.

I was reading a book today and as I was snooping ahead I ran across a quote that really spoke to me. If I would have read it a year ago I am sure it wouldn't have touched me. Reading it today I found it just beautiful. It helped me understand myself a little bit. Maybe it'll help you understand me a little as well, maybe it will help you think about something of yourself.
Donald Miller writes in Through Painted Deserts:

And so my prayer is that your story will have involved some leaving and some coming home, some summer and some winter...My hope is your story will be about changing...about learning to love a child...about learning to love others more than we love ourselves...We get one story, you and I, and one story alone. God has established the elements, the setting and the climax and the resolution. It would be a crime not to venture out, wouldn't it?...And you will not be alone. You have never been alone. Don't worry. Everything will still be here when you get back. It is you who will have changed.

Just beautiful.

Let's not be ordinary

Well, I hope you haven't stopped praying for me, and more importantly for Mozambique, Hands at Work and Rubatano.
I contemplated before returning to the States, will I keep blogging when I return to the US? I didn't think so. What would I have to talk about that I wouldn't already be communicating to the people closest to me. Well, here I am- blogging still. I guess I thought that once I returned from Mozambique my journey would be done- thus, any ones need to read my blog would also be finished.
I should have known better. I believe my journey may just be starting. I don't know what my next step in this journey is. I don't even know what I am doing this afternoon, yet alone tomorrow, next week or gosh, who knows, next month?? My heart starts to race just thinking about that.
So yes, here I sit at a coffee shop in what I think is Gilbert, AZ. Each day I wake with a prayer, "God give me some direction today."
It seems like it would be easier, I have been back a while now. It's not. I am told I may "just need time", "take care of yourself", rest, wait on the Lord.
So I am.
Who was I fooling that I thought I would just drop back into the land of opportunity and settle right back in?
The thoughts of malnourished babies are never far from my mind.
The voices of friends/volunteers saying, "I don't have money (25 cents) needed to take my child with malaria to the hospital."
The giggles of orphaned children still ringing in my ears.
The images of patients emaciated from HIV are real.
In a recent phone conversation with Carlos he said, "It's a very critical time here. The people, they are still hungry."
My heart is still heavy.
Yes, I know Jesus warned that the poor will always be among us. It's not my burden to take care of "the poor." But I do feel a responsibility to do my part. God opened my eyes to something more and I don't want to be ordinary. I don't want to just settle. I want to live big. This life is short and eternity isn't.
I don't want to be normal.
In the meantime, I don't know what that means but I believe there is something. I'll just keep praying, listening and hoping, hoping in more.

I wanted to share the newest video that Heather made about Mozambique. It's similar to some others I posted before but it's great. Sorry I am not techy enough to even know how to make a link but the address to watch this video about Carlos and Adao is:

http://vimeo.com/3573972

Also, if you had been financially supporting me I can't thank you enough for allowing the last year to happen. If you desire to keep supporting the work of Carlos and Hands at Work, please send checks to(not Highlands Church):

Hands at Work in Africa, USA
951 MacArthur Blvd
San Leandro, CA 94577

Or you can do it online on the Hands at Work website. www.handsatwork.org

Maybe someday soon I'll blog about what I am doing next. I will let you know as soon as I know...