I haven't mentioned children's cup (ChildrensCup.org) in a few blogs and would like to bring some light to it. It is the 26th day of praying for the children of Africa and the ministries working with them; especially those children with aids who are typically orphaned and don't have enough food. It is so easy to live on this side of the world and forget of the suffereing so many children and adults live on a daily basis. We just have no idea. I often read about the suffering of people in third world countries or watch a special on T.V. and just cry and cry, but what have I done about it? I can turn my computer off, or T.V. off, or close my magazine and forget about it 15 seconds later as I deal with the "cares" of my own life which is usually something like dealing with my children who are fighting over the 1 millionth toy that they own.

Am I really broken about what I see, or do I just not want to have to see it? We as Americans have this incredible ability to live life in a vaccume. If I just don't want to be reminded of these tragedies that go on, I just say a short prayer, cry a few tears, and turn my T.V. off. But if I really care, why don't I give to someone God has called to go, or give to an organization that provides food for these people? And then as the Bible says, "where you treasure is there your heart will be also." Therefore, because I give I will be reminded to pray for the people and organizations who help them.

We all need to put ourselves in the position of these children we see on T.V. or read about. First of all I can't imagine being an orphan; not feeling the love of a parent who feeds and cares for and protects you. Have you ever had just a bowlful of oatmeal a day for a few days, and then imagine that for months and years; or eating leaves off of trees and drinking muddy water because that's all there is? Have you ever heard a baby cry because they are hungry, and then imagine that cry until they cannot cry anymore because they are dying. I was reminded of this when I breastfed my last three children and did not produce enough milk for them most of the time; especially if I was out and did not have a backup milk supply. It was very frustrating to feel helpless to provide for my child and I thought of mothers in places like Africa, and cried for them imagining how helpless they felt in not being able to feed their children.

Just imagine... and then do something!! There are so many good organizations out there ministering both physically and spiritually to these people. Find one today! Don't let another minute go by where we ignore what we cannot see. If that were you or your child wouldn't you want someone to help?

The most hillarious blog I have ever read! beauty school drop out
I hope to find more. I came across a blog site yesterday called blogHer. It's basically a blog site for normal average women... and lots of moms!! So far I absolutely love it.

As I am just learning this blogging world, I am still not sure how to navigate through this web of information, put links on my blog site, and sometimes can't find a site I found when I want to go back to it. I pretty much have to ask my husband to do everything. So I hope to get better at this and link you to some of these great sites. In the meantime bear with me :-) and I hope you will keep reading.

I ran 10 miles today with a double baby jogger. At church tonight I cried as we sang praise songs realizing what God has given me.

Now I know most of you say, "yeah, I'd be crying too if I ran 10 miles..." But if you knew me you'd know ...it's just a part of me to run.... And the older I get the more I love it and appreciate every step I am able to take.

I say that because my body has been riddled with pain over the past 15 years. To begin with I struggled for years after college with plantar faccii which can cause severe pain at the front of the heel where the muscle and ligaments attache. God lead me to a Christian chiropractor that adjusted my feet which took all the pain away where I have never had any trouble with that since.

I also struggle with a type of degenerative disease called ankylosing splonditis (A type of arthritis) that I now control totally by my diet (which doctors don't like to beleive). I have to eat extremely healthy (organic, not much meat) and have to absolutely stay away from nighshade vegatables (green peppers, eggplant,...), potatoes, and yeast breads. Now if you think about it, that is pretty much the American diet. I lived off bagels and potatoes during college and my 20's. Anyway after my fourth child and alot of heel pain (which the doctors also can't diagnose - which I think is caused by fallen arches due to pregnancy), I praise God for every step I take.

I was planning to run 7 easy miles today around our country block since I was going to have to take two of my kids in the baby jogger... and when I was coming to the normal turnoff to our house, I felt God tugging at me to go straight at the crossroads. I thought, "that is crazy, I had just ran 8 miles the day before with the baby jogger and today was suppose to be an easy day." But I kept feeling like I was suppose to go this way, so I did... and not only did I get the awesome feeling of completing a 10 mile run at a good pace pushing an extra 75 lbs., but we passed a group of about 9 covered wagons, which as a beginning homeschool mom, is a very exciting visual lesson of what people rode in before we had cars. My kids loved it and so did I. I even called my husband on my cell phone (I take one for emergencies like flat tires, heat exhaustion, tired :-) and asked him to bring our oldest child which is my newest homeschool "guinei pig", since he is such a visual learner and would never forget the lesson.

So I sit back even in more awe of God and how much He cares about my dreams (running in the Olympics) and my joys (homeschooling)... even if they often sound a little crazy to everyone else. The Bible says, "Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart." I am a living testimony of that... and I even get to go to France to be a missionary. I am speechless.

As I have sat here many days trying to conjure up something profound to write I decided to read some of the blogs my husband reads. I am not sure how to make links from my blog yet (I am a little computer illiterate...my husband keeps me in the 21st century), but when I do, I will put some of these links on my blog page. The blog I read this morning was evotional.com by Mark Patterson of National Community Church in Washington, DC.

We fell in love with him when we saw a spoof on his websight on "Riverdance". It was great, especially since Ken & I had just seen Riverdance for the first time. Since then we have met him and visited his church which meets in 3 locations in DC; two theatres and a coffee house. We became more and more interested in his ministry seeing that this may be how we find places in France to meet in large groups and to reach people where they are at. It's an amazing concept.

Anyway, that is not the reason I am blogging about him. If you read his most recent blog he talks about being in Gelapagos. I am not even sure where that is, so I am going to have to look it up... but he says it feels like he is at the end of the earth. It is also a place that has no church and no access to the gospel.

It really got me thinking since I have a heart for this type of people, but I find myself going to France... who God has now given me the same type of burden. These people have access to the Gospel, but they don't see that it has any relevance whatsoever to their life.

For example let's say there is a college in my town that has a class on Mideival History. Why in the world would I want to take the class and learn about it? I hate history, or I should say never did well in history in school. Now if there began a "buzz" in the marketplace about this class and how fun it was and how the information was changing their lives, it would make me want to go check it out.

So my question is who are the unreached? Just because Christianity is in their history, and it is not illegal to sell Bibles in their country... if you cannot get them to look at it, are they not just as unreached as those in Muslim countries? It's all about relevance. If we don't present the Gospel in a relevant way in Europe, as well as Asia and the Middle East and other similar areas, are we not sending a generation of Europe to hell saying you have access to Scripture so you're on your own?

That is why I am so excited that God has chosen me to go to France. In this I see his love for these people and His desire to reach anyone who will respond to him whether they have access or not.

Today is my birthday and just wanted to introduce you to my son Levi. Levi is an amazing kid. He is only 5 and yet he has the ability to see what is important to people and respond to them at just the right time. He is very considerate and polite and never wants to see someone hurting. He also has this incredible mind that reads people very well. I had to laugh today when he(knowing that you put your favorite thing on your birthday cake) said, "mommy we need to put the Olympics or Fox News on your birthday cake.

I guess when you watch the Olympics literally 24 hours a day for 2 weeks it leaves an impression on your children. We even have a DVR so you can record everything, pause it anytime, and never miss an event. We were two days behind most of the time... but I didn't miss anything. My children would get where if I had to leave the room for anything they would pause the TV for me.

Of course maybe it's because even at 39 I still have this crazy dream of making an Olympic Team and when their mom gets up at 6 in the morning to run, or when they are strapped in a baby jogger at 2 in the afternoon with 100 degree heat index maybe they pick up on Mom's crazy psychosis.

And well Fox News... what can I say...I'm a junkie. So there you have it. That is who I am in a nut shell. Isn't it nice to know someone in your family really gets you, even if it isn't your husband. :-)

Today starts the first day of prayer for Children's Cup! What is Children's Cup you ask? Well, I will try to share a little, but you can find out much more about it at childrenscup.org.




My husband heard about this ministry from a guy named Dan Olerking who has a heart that is hard to describe for the children of Africa that experience all the things we only see through our television sets. I have often sat and cried when I watched the specials on TV about starving children in other parts of the world many without parents or shelter, and wondered what I could do. This ministry let's people like us make a difference in the lives of children when God has not called us to go.

Children's Cup's purpose is to take humanitarian and spiritual aid into the hard places where war, natural disasters and disease epidemics have devastated societies.These children in hard places know horrors our children have never heard of. Food, shelter, medicine and education are not enough to heal their emotions. Most have been sexually abused, beaten and some have even been forced to murder and maim as child warriors.They need hope. Hope's name is Jesus!
Their work currently focuses heavily on Swaziland, but efforts continue in Zimbabwe and Vietnam. In the "What We Do" section of this website, you can learn about what we do in these countries.

I hope you will join me in praying, because if you have read any of my other blogs I am continually reminded that God cares about even the smallest of needs, how much more would he care about the hurting children of Africa and answer our prayers in a powerful way.