preparing for our trip to Malabo

It's only a few days until our team from Glad Tidings leaves for Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, Africa. We planned this return trip two years ago when we went to Gabon to put up tabernacles with Pastor Carroll Deal at two churches there. It was great working with him. Our team completed the jobs and we made many friends and memories in July '07. If I never go any place again, I still get to say I went to Africa on a missions trip.

Knowing what we learned from our past trip is helpful in preparing for this one. We know the plane trip is killer and that we will be very tired when we get there. We know that bringing snacks from home is a good idea and that we will see sights we may never see again in our lives. Our project is to start construction on tabernacles for a Bible school to train and prepare new African pastors for their work for the Lord and that our labors will be appreciated by those we are helping. We know that Pastor Carroll treats his teams well, that our established team works together well and that our new team members will be embraced with love and helpfulness from us 'oldies.' We also know we are in store for much that is unknown and, best of all, we know the Lord who is allowing us this great adventure for Him!

It has been a challenge to line up all the details here so we can go away for 10 days or so. Family and friends have been asked for and have offered help and they have been more than willing to pitch in to make this time away as glitch-free as possible. One dear friend even offered to fly in from out west just to help me get away smoothly.

I love all the connections in my life but sometimes I also long for the simplicity of a life that allows me to plan a trip and then just leave at the appointed time--no problem. My life isn't like that at all. We have pets and animals and, most importantly, family that all still need care while we are gone. Life doesn't stop in Apopka, FL just because we make plans to go away and do other things for a few days, even if those things are good things for God.

So, I've made my first list of things to buy and things to do and will work on getting this stuff together this weekend. I should have it all gathered by Monday. Byron and I will pack and I will find other things to pick up that I hadn't thought about. Then, the good Lord willing, we will load up the truck with suitcases, tool boxes, carry-ons, cameras, computer, snacks, and passports on Thursday afternoon and wonder what we've forgotten. We will decide that if we haven't packed it in all our bags yet, then it isn't something that's necessary anyway!

I still feel a little bit at loose ends right now because I'm just not prepared to leave at this moment, but that will come as I check off the things on my list:

Insect repellent. Check. Malaria pills. Check. Rice Krispie Treats. Check.

I trust all the details will come together as they usually do and we will have a productive trip. That we will have a unique time of doing the 'out of the ordinary' for the Lord. That we will have a special time of hearing what the Lord is specifically saying to us in the moment. The Lord is so good to allow us these experiences.

I am pretty sure we will have internet access on the island and I hope to post about our adventures daily. Please pray for our team as we travel and work and please pray for those we are leaving behind for these few days.

I love you all and, Lord willing, will post again soon.

Father, thank you for the great opportunities you place in our lives each day. Thank you for your protective hand and for your ever guiding love for us. I pray you will bless our team and this trip and that you will bless our Christian family in Malabo and our families here. Keep all safe and well. I love you so much, Lord. Thank you for loving us.

Suz

mother hens vs hawks

My chicks are not totally feathered yet so I still have to watch the temperature for them. After it warmed up a little today I put them into the coop for a while so they could have some room to jump, run and take sand baths.

I sat with them for a few minutes enjoying their chickie-ness as they walked up the ramp toward their future nesting boxes and then walked back down again. Or flew off the top of the thing and landed on one of the other girls. Or pooed. Or pecked at the sand, or the food, or one another. They are curious and strange little creatures. I think I'm in love.

After a while I left and did a few things around the house. At one point I decided to check on the chicks from the garage door so I stuck my head out and looked back toward the coop. I heard them first...they were screaming! Then I noticed they were all huddled into one corner...all screaming! I took off running toward them to see what was wrong. A snake? A cat? Somebody get her head stuck in the hole of the chicken wire? Did they ALL get their heads stuck in the chicken wire? (It had happened to one of them earlier.)

My heart raced as I bounded toward the coop (and not gracefully, I might add). "Mama's coming!" My babies were panicked and I was in rescue mode. I ran harder. Just about the time I reached the coop, they saw me coming and stopped their noise, then on the other side of the coop, I saw a large hawk fly from the ground up into the tree just across the fence in our neighbor's yard. The hawk had been tormenting my chicks!

There was no way Hawky Hawkerson could have gotten into the coop to harm my chickens but the chicks didn't know it. All they knew is that a predator was after them. They knew they were in the presence of danger. They wanted the one they had come to depend upon for their food, water and warmth. They wanted their mama. They wanted the Big Chicken--they wanted me!

I didn't let them down. I took them out of the coop and back into the safety of the garage.

I've had pets before but I have to say there's something special about the cry of a youngster, even a chick-youngster, when it's in trouble. My heart pounded and I couldn't get to them fast enough. If it had been necessary to protect them, I would have taken care of Hawky with my bare hands. I wonder if that's how a real mama chicken feels when her babies are threatened.

As I was taking them back to the garage, I thought about the little cries for rescue and about the song that says, "I need you, Jesus, to come to my rescue. Where else can I go?" In essence that's where my chicks were. They needed help and they turned to the one that had been their help in all the days before today's emergency. Me. Their mama.

I also thought of the scripture where the Lord says he wanted to gather his children together as a "hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were not willing." A mother hen wants to protect her offspring in any situation and will try to gather her chicks to hide them under her wings. There is one catch, though. They must come to her! They must be close enough to come to her. Mama Hen will not force her chicks to be protected.

Luke 13:34 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were not willing!

Now I am not so naive to think that chickens work on a level of love and care as do we humans. They function on instinct and as cute and as needy as they are, they are animals. I am not. My racing heart and old legs got me to my babies as quickly as possible because of my concern for their safety and well-being.

The Lord compares himself to the mother hen. He is protective of us, his chicks. He knows there is genuine danger just outside the coop of our lives bent on harming His children and He wants us to look to him for our daily needs and our safety. He promises to surely provide it when we come and hide under the shadow of His wing. When we look to him, our protector and provider.

I've seen the hawk just outside my coop. I've been the chick screaming in the corner. I've been terrified because my life and its circumstances seemed totally out of control...and they were out of control, they were out of my control. I have panicked and wondered what in the world was going to come of the mess all around me. And I have heard the Lord call to me and bring sweet rescue to me just as he promised.

What hawk is outside your coop? Sickness, family trouble, temptation, money problems, sadness, hurt, betrayal? Run to the Lord! Run! He will rescue you. He will protect your heart and give you peace. There is no safer place in this world than under the shadow of the Almighty.

Oh dear Father! We need rescue! We...I need you! The hawk is right outside. The predator. Where else can we turn? There is no where else to go. No one else can help me like you. There is no other name by which I am saved. Thank you, thank you, thank you for your deep and total love for us and for your protective wing. I love you so very much.

Suz

my birthday

Today is my birthday. I am 57 years old. Yay.

Now, I am not a Birthday Scrooge. I like having a good time on my birthday. I enjoy celebrating with good wishes from family, friends, cards, cake and ice cream...especially cake and ice cream, but since the first time I experienced pregnancy and childbirth (ooowwww), for me birthdays have shifted from celebrating the birthee (me) to celebrating the birthor (my mom). After I lived through all the months of morning sickness, fatigue, stretch marks, weight gain, labor, and delivery of my daughters, I gained new appreciation for my own mother's role in my birth-day.

Mom told me the story many times about when it came time to have me she was in the hospital in labor for 2 days with no result. She described how exhausted she was from the contractions and how the doc said I was laying crosswise in her body rather than head down ready to arrive. She told me how my dad told the doc if he didn't do something, and SOON, that he was taking her out of the hospital and taking her home--where we might both surely have died.

My mother told me how Dr Tull, under threat of bodily harm from my dad, finally took her into a delivery room and turned me around in her body with forceps that did great physical damage to her and bruised my head, face and shoulders badly. She told me how she, a frail 119 lb woman, nearly died giving birth to her first child. But she lived. And, I lived. Obviously.

When I was a kid, like most other children, my birthday was, "WHOO HOO!, MY birthday!" Hooray for me! As the first child and first niece, I was the hit of the party! It was fun and I loved it. But I always knew in the back of my mind that I had done nothing to get here. Why were people celebrating me?

It's great to have fun with the newborn's entry into her family's lives but I noticed that after a baby is finally here, the mother's effort and experience of pregnancy, labor and delivery are permanently set aside and the focus is shifted to only celebrating the child's arrival. Now, I realize the birth is the fruition of all the mother's experience. I know that having the baby is the whole point, and I understand celebrating. It's a great thing to have a new baby. Children are a gift from the Lord himself. No doubt. I just also think that we should not totally dismiss nearly a year of Mama's life.

There are a bunch of jokes about mothers who in "martyr-ly" fashion constantly remind their children, "I carried you for 9 months in my body and suffered for days in labor with you." There's fun in these humorous jabs, but I would like to see more of us stop and thoughtfully consider our mother's role in our birth. I know we have Mother's Day in May every year as a general appreciation time for mom, but your birthday-- my birthday-- is unique to our own mom's experience.

Every year before my mother died she called me late on that day or even the day after to wish me "Happy Birthday." Every single time she'd say, "I didn't forget you." I'd say, "Oh Mama, if you don't remember it, then nobody does!" Then, almost as though I'd given her some sort of permission, she'd tell me the story all over again. I loved hearing it.

Do you know the story of your very first birthday? That beautiful day when you arrived into this world? If it's possible, ask your Mom about that day and write down what she tells you. Ask her questions. It doesn't have to be a perfect essay, just make it a written part of your history because you don't want to forget it.

Many of you have children or will have children one day and this memory is a great one to pass along. Go ahead. Ask your mom. Yes, you may hear about the drama and the pain and the fear she felt. But, it's a big deal to give birth and, for most, it's a blessed day she will never forget. It's the story of your beginning and a memory you will want to keep forever.

I don't know why the Lord specifically chose my mother for me, but I believe He did. And I don't know why Mom had to suffer so much for me to be born, but she did. My mother went through a lot of pain fifty-seven years ago today, and even though she's in heaven now, I still want to say, "Thank you, Mom. I appreciate everything you went through to bring me into this world."

Father, It's my birthday today and so I thank you for my mother. In your wisdom you gave me to her to bear and to raise. She did the best she knew to do. In your wisdom, you've also placed me in the center of my specific circle of family and friends and I appreciate them so very much. It's going to be a good day, Lord. You're better to me than anybody else! I love you so much.

Suz