Aja, Seth & Jordan, Haiti 2012

The Story of Christ in the Face of a Child

My two oldest children got back from a mission trip to Haiti last week. Seth, my oldest son, took his first mission trip when he was 15. Going to Mexico was a life changing experience for him. He was bitten by the mission bug and has gone on a mission trip every year since. This was Aja's first mission trip. Being in the Navy has made her a well seasoned traveler, but a mission trip to a Haitian orphanage is a different experience. The stories they came back with are such a joy to listen to, but nothing tells the story of Christ like the face of a child.

He captured her heart. Brought to the orphanage just days before they arrived, he was so malnourished he didn't have the strength to cry. Through those with a love for missions, this child went from being passed from stranger to stranger, into the arms of loving adults who will nurture not only his body but his soul. When you give to missions, your money is used to help children like this become all that Christ created them to be.

Kirby is deaf. Funding has been raised for him to receive a hearing implant.
Hopefully he will be coming to the U.S. soon for his surgery

More of a Hero

When I was in 1st or 2nd grade, I joined a softball team. I remember riding my bike to the school for practice and looked forward to the first game. My stomach twittered with butterflies when it came my turn to bat. To my own shock and awe, I hit the ball and sent it soaring. I ran to first as the coach waved me on toward second. I hit second base with a determined thud and looked up to see that everyone was going nuts. I misinterpreted their excitement, and hung my head as I began walking off the field. When I stepped off the base the place erupted and the second base girl tagged me out. I had given up on myself just a tad too early and was out of the game for real. This would have been a great opportunity for a coach or someone to put their arm around me afterwards and assure me that no mistake is fatal. That didn't happen, and I never went back. I bet I missed a lot of good games because the fear of failure kept me from playing.

"Never let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game!"

- -A Cinderella Story

When I had kids I did not want them to live with fear of failure.  I certainly don't need to worry about them not living their dreams. This week Aja and Seth are off on a mission trip to Haiti. Each of them have been to different countries, but never together. This will be their first mission trip together and the last trip before my son walks down the isle to start the adventure of marriage. They have stepped up to the plate to face their fears more than I could ever imagine. Each one is very different but with every step they take, they become more of a hero in my eyes.

Send Me Missions, Changing the World One Life at a Time

My son just returned from his second mission trip to Africa. He is living a life that is poured out to others and dedicated solely to Christ.

Isaiah 53:12
Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

 Genesis 21:18
Lift the boy up and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.”

Matthew 9:37
Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.

Genesis 27:28
May God give you heaven’s dew and earth’s richness— an abundance of grain and new wine.

Matthew 9:38
Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

John 4:36
Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together.

Jeremiah 31:4
I will build you up again, and you, Virgin Israel, will be rebuilt. Again you will take up your timbrels and go out to dance with the joyful.

1 Chronicles 13:2

He then said to the whole assembly of Israel, “If it seems good to you and if it is the will of the LORD our God, let us send word far and wide to the rest of our people throughout the territories of Israel, and also to the priests and Levites who are with them in their towns and pasturelands, to come and join us

 .

Ray of Hope Send Me Missions... Changing the world, one life at a time.

The Children of Africa

There are no pictures of Africa that depict it's beauty more than the face of a child. I'd like to capture their cheeks in my hands as their faces have captured my heart.

Matthew 19:14
Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”

Mark 9:37
“Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me.”

Luke 10:21
At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do.

Nehemiah 9:23
You made their children as numerous as the stars in the sky, and you brought them into the land that you told their parents to enter and possess.

Psalm 90:16
May your deeds be shown to your servants, your splendor to their children.

Psalm 127:3
Children are a heritage from the LORD, offspring a reward from him.

Proverbs 22:6
Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it.

Matthew 18:5
And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.

James 1:27
Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

Luke 9:48
Then he said to them, “Whoever welcomes this little child in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. For it is the one who is least among you all who is the greatest.”

1 Thessalonians 5:5
You are all children of the light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness.

Revelation 21:7
Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children.

Ray of Hope Send Me Missions, Changing the World One Life at a Time

Out of Africa

What is life like when you expand your borders, color outside the lines and live without fear? It's an amazing technicoloured world as the pictures my son took on his last mission trip to Africa show. It's hard to imagine walking among God's creatures with no boundaries in place..No fences, no wires.

Genesis 1:21
So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

Genesis 1:24
And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so.



Genesis 1:25
God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

Daniel 4:22
Your Majesty, you are that tree! You have become great and strong; your greatness has grown until it reaches the sky, and your dominion extends to distant parts of the earth.

Daniel 4:3
How great are his signs, how mighty his wonders! His kingdom is an eternal kingdom; his dominion endures from generation to generation.

Psalm 23:2
He makes me lie down in green pastures

he leads me beside quiet waters,

Isaiah 43:20
The wild animals honor me, the jackals and the owls, because I provide water in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland, to give drink to my people, my chosen,

Deuteronomy 33:29
Blessed are you, Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by the LORD? He is your shield and helper and your glorious sword. Your enemies will cower before you, and you will tread on their heights.”

Deuteronomy 11:15
I will provide grass in the fields for your cattle, and you will eat and be
satisfied.

Psalm 36:6
Your righteousness is like the highest mountains, your justice like the great deep. You, LORD, preserve both people and animals.

 Psalm 65:13
The meadows are covered with flocks and the valleys are mantled with grain; they shout for joy and sing.

Proverbs 7:15
So I came out to meet you; I looked for you and have found you!

Scatter Joy!!!!

Welcome to Oklahoma where the dirt is red and the grass is.... Crunchy! We do everything in Oklahoma halfway, that's why we only have two seasons... Hot and cold. If you want more seasons than that, I suggest you move someplace else. LOL! You think I'm kidding? Trust me I'm not. Summertime means travel (any place but here sound good to me), and my oldest son has once again put his travelin pants on (actually he rarely takes them off) and is headed to the wilds of Africa. Mission is his passion.  It's a passion he shares with several of his friends. He has a really neat group of friends that just scatter joy wherever they go. For the next 3 weeks they'll be scattering joy to the far corners of the earth. You can bet the grass never grows crunchy under his feet because he doesn't stay in one place long enough for it to grow. My prayer is the seeds he sows this summer will flourish and change the world. How about your joy??? Go out and scatter joy!