africa -- day two, a hand held

Ndola, Africa --- day two

we worshipped this Lord’s Day in a different country and with people of a different culture, but as children of God, there is no doubt, we worshipped as family. that’s what happens when people love the One Same Jesus … the differences make no difference. brothers and sisters, mamas and babas and babies ... dancing and singing together. one voice, praising One God.

through tears, my friend, april, told the people, “this is how i imagine heaven.”

these young women, radiant in their love for Jesus, led us in worship. everything about them was worshipful and without abandon.

actually, it was rather humbling.

friends, when it comes to praise music, i am a hand raiser with the best of them, but i have to tell you, i sat there listening and watching and thinking:

THIS is how we worship the God of the universe.
THIS is how we praise the Name of Jesus.
THIS is how we glorify our God.

not only were we blessed in praise music, but we also got to hear from pastor aaron – oh, how i wish y’all could spend just 5 stinkin minutes with this man --  everything about him is joyful! like think of JOY and then take that and multiply it by 100 and you’d still only be about halfway there. when he talks about Jesus he hops -- yes, hops!  and dances … it’s funny, but it’s completely real … this man cannot contain his love for his Lord.

i met pastor aaron when he made his first trip to america last spring. i knew he was special then.  and seeing him here in his home country of zambia doing what he loves -- loving people and leading them to Jesus -- wow. just, wow.

he preached this morning on what a relationship with the great I AM looks like in real life. i tried to write down much of what he said.

“children of God, it doesn’t matter your circumstances or your poverty or your difficulty or your hardship.  If you place your life in the great I AM, you will be okay. He will be your guide, your pilot, your comforter. Fear not anything for the great I AM is there. Even if you do not see Him, His promises are 100%. If the Lord is on our side, what should we fear? NOTHING!”

okay, so maybe you've also heard that kind of encouragement from your pulpit on your sunday morning. (i hope so)! but, bear in mind, friends, these people are living in circumstances which couldn't be more impoverished, difficult ... seemingly impossible.

which leads me to our afternoon -----

with the conclusion of the almost 3 hour church service, our team headed into the community of nkwazi. i have been to other countries, i have been to some incredibly harsh and impoverished areas in america. i thought i was prepared for nkwazi.  i thought ...

i have some pictures below, but even these don't really capture it. we were careful to respect the homes and people here ... we were careful in what we photographed, always asking permission ... always doing our best to show respect. i could post picture after picture of nkwazi's harsh reality.

but as i am writing this tonight, what i really want you to see is not just how hard their lives are or how little they seem to have. i want you to see the smiles and the bright eyes. i want you to see the sweetness, not of their lives, but in their life. there's a warmth ... a gentleness ... a friendliness which was impossible for me to ignore today.

as we walked the streets of the compound, children followed us. everywhere. at one point, i don't think it would be an exaggeration to say that there were upwards of a 100 kids walking alongside. following. chasing. laughing. trying to get our attention. reaching for our hands. grabbing hold of our hearts.

babies on the backs of babies. toddlers toddling all over the dusty, dangerous places in this community ... many, with no one watching over them. this little girl followed us into a home and crawled up on the lap of my teammate, elizabeth. she cuddled there with her for at least 45 minutes. no none came looking for her. no one noticed she was missing. she came dangling a small stuffed rabbit in her tiny hand. her feet in sandals, scuffed and dirty. her eyes were bright and beautiful, but her belly large from hunger.

this picture says so much. yes, you're going to notice the boy in front. all teeth and smiles and darling. but take a look at the little guy next to him ... the one in the right corner. yes, these kids do know how to pose for a photo or two  (or a thousand) ... but behind those smiles, in the corners of their lives, there is also the reality of something broken and sad. maybe lonely.

this little boy in the middle with the princess sweatshirt, his name is john. john told me he didn't go to school. had never been, but really wants to go. he's 12. i have a 12 year old boy at home. john walked with me back toward our vehicle. he held onto my hand all the way there. we are going to figure out why john hasn't been to school ... what can we do about that?

tomorrow we will be at the WIPHAN school. we will see many children who are sponsored at this school and many more who are not. 750 students, only 200 currently sponsored. maybe you would consider helping one of these children attend school? for a small amount monthly, you can be involved in the life of one of these kids from nkwazi ... sponsoring a child helps them attend school, have a uniform, books, meals and free medical care. even more importantly, you can write back and forth with these kids ... share a little life and encouragement. that's what they need. like john, someone to hold their hand.

there's a link to {WIPHAN} in my last post. please consider praying about this opportunity.  

africa -- day one, a shift

we've only been in africa since {sometime} last night, but already i sense the shift in my perspective.

from this ------

to this ----

and just like that. we are here. and it isn't any longer about a place, but about people.

walking the dusty markets and witnessing the vibrancy around us. 

this continent across the world, come to life. 

that globe back home on my desk -- my blurry ideas of what africa might be --- suddenly taking on smiles and greetings and sweet faces like these two.

we are in africa. 

go ahead. pinch me.

it is only day one. and though my perspective is less blurry, i have to admit, my body is not. it is saturday evening in zambia (about six hours ahead of my georgia family). we've been operating on pure adrenalin since leaving atlanta thursday night. 

it's catching up with me as i sit typing. you get it. 

but we are here. our team was all together this afternoon for the first time. immediate connections. sisters in Christ. all of us excited and anticipating the week ahead. what does our God have planned?

anna, me, mandy, kristen, andrea, laney (andrea's daughter), april and elizabeth

perhaps a bit tired in our eyes and body this evening, but God's glory, undeniably and unbelievably clear.

IT is present. 

HE is present. 

a few minutes ago, andrea came in and said, "if you go outside right now you can see this!"  and she showed us this picture she had taken on her phone. (i know, impressive, right)?

from the easy market place smiles to the evening light out back ... africa, you are so beautiful. 

"o Lord, our Lord, how excellent -- majestic and glorious -- is Your name in all the earth! 

You have set Your glory above the heavens." ~ psalm 8:1

packing: from summer camp to africa

it's been a week of packing --- lunches and backpacks and suitcases and sunscreen.

one off for a week at summer camp in the north georgia mountains.
two more teens heading to goldrush -- a youth, mission's conference at our church.
even the littlest one out the door every morning for day camp.

our middle girl came home on sunday from a week spent at a friend's lake house. we dumped her suitcase in the laundry room, slammed her clothes into the washing machine, dried them, and then threw them right back into that same suitcase for this next week away at goldrush. 100% unfolded, but clean.

in the midst of the camp-chaos, rick packed his bag for work in minneosta ... and though he's gotta wear a suit and tie, he's outta here, too!

that's how we are rolling right now. this week. 

emily, as a camp counselor, packs her backpack and lunchbox every morning. a few days ago she told me that this backpack is literally her lifeline. she wears it all day as she moves her campers from one activity to the next. her life in a bag on her back. everything the girl needs to survive from the pool to the ropes course to bible time up on her shoulders.

everyone somewhere, doing something.

even me.

tomorrow morning i'll begin packing my bags for africa.

gosh that's a lot. right. i mean the packing lists alone ... good grief.

did we remember everything?
do we have everything?

that gnawing little question: what. have. we. forgotten?

and as the mama, i can hardly wrap my mind around it all.

i printed the packing lists and the sheets of instructions and handed them out. marching orders to my troops, "here, child, read this. do it. go." 

check.
check.
check.

and now tomorrow, it's my turn. to fill a suitcase for travel to another continent. a place where it would probably be good to remember the important stuff, because there's not gonna be a target (or starbucks--uugh) on every corner. actually, on no corner.

pull it together, jody.
get your ducks in a row.
you'll be flying across the world in less than 48 hours.

there's nothing quite like waiting to the last minute.

but that's just how it's been.
(my whole life).

still rather empty ...

passport expedited.
body vaccinated.
malaria pills begin tonight.
empty suitcase staring at me ...

this trip.
in fact, it's no surprise i'm packing in the 11th hour of leaving. i didn't even know i WAS leaving until less than a month ago. who plans a trip to africa in 3 weeks? hmm ...

but that's how this has gone.

and regardless of what i choose to throw in my suitcase in the next day or two, i'll be getting on a plane with my awesome friend april thursday night and we'll be flying 16 hours across the world.
ready or not, here we come.

but here's the deal: though i might be a spontaneous africa-goer and not the best, most organized, packer and planner ... i'm ready.

seriously, i am ready to go do this africa thing.

i realize that most people plan trips of this magnitude 6 months in advance or even years out. and that's good. i really admire foresight like that. i know there's a lot to be said for that sort of thinking ...

this past weekend, my friend, diana, asked me, "so, what's the time change between atlanta and zambia?" and i had to admit, i didn't know. i hadn't even thought of it ... hadn't gotten that far.
(i researched it last night, however, and zambia is basically 6 hours ahead).

just to be clear, i'm not going on a safari.
this trip isn't to photograph elephants or gaze at gazelles.

i was asked to go as a storyteller for wiphan {widows + orphans}. the idea came up rather suddenly (no kidding) this summer and the call went out to a list of women. short notice. no set plan. no absolute agenda. i suppose a lot of reasons to say no, but a few of us said yes and we are going.

it is sometimes flat out awesome to say yes when there are a lot of reasons to say no. i know that's a weird personality thing and it's not always good ... it can be just plain old stubborn and strong-willed. and i don't mean it in any way to sound reckless or flippant. but in cases like this, you can't argue with me, a little of that gritty attitude can help.

we are going to ndola zambia to spend time with women and children and to write their stories.
so friends, be prepared: we are going to share them with y'all! there are 750 children attending the schools of wiphan over in africa. only 200 of them are currently sponsored. maybe we can come back with some stuff: photos, stories, moments ... and we can do something about that. maybe we can offer a little bit of change for these children.
i know we, who go, will be changed. that's never in question on trips like these.
we might go to bless a little, but it is we who receive a lot.

this video explains more about where we are going. click on: https://vimeo.com/132734621 (please click on the link and watch)! and here's a second video!

i'd love you to follow along. you don't have to pack a thing, but come. i'll be sharing, probably daily, as internet allows. i'll use instagram (jmcnatt), facebook and my blog.  if your are led, feel free to share what i'm sharing. we aren't going to build a house or paint a school or dig a ditch, we are going to love on some women and children, to learn their stories, to laugh and cry with them and maybe through all of that relationship to raise awareness of how we can all do something more to help.
so, please, do share.

i'd also love your prayers. what to pray for? well, you know ... everything ...  haha.
pray as the Spirit leads. that's how this trip is going ... as the Spirit leads. we are open to whatever it is God wants to bring. that's my main prayer: "Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders, let me walk upon the waters (or the grasslands) wherever You would call me. take me deeper than my feet could ever wander and my faith will be made stronger in the presence of my Savior." (hill song ~ oceans)

summer camp ... here we come!

so our family is traveling a bit. as close as the church on the corner and as far away as africa. it's a little crazy. yep. i know. but a little crazy is sometimes so good.

the places where my kids have landed this week, i couldn't ask for anything more. every one of them getting or giving something of God's grace.

i sat through the opening evening of the goldrush conference last night and was just wrecked by the presence of God pouring out from those high school kids worshipping. to know my teens are in that place. tyler serving on the prayer team and sarah leading in missions ... it leaves me humbled.  how can i NOT go to africa? we have an opportunity -- a responsibility -- to love others here and there. my kids inspire me and God will lead me.

but, heck ya, i'm a little anxious. as my oldest daughter so kindly reminded me, "mom, it's a big deal for a mother of five to go to africa." and ... she's right. it is. but this mother of five knows that she's got a Father in heaven who has it all in His hands. the seven of us and the seven thousand + miles between us. God's got this. it may be "big," but God is bigger.

and wherever we are --- church camp, minnesota or africa! He goes before us, with us and behind us.

"religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: 

to look after orphans and widows in their distress..." james 1:27 

emily and some of her cute campers!

so excited to head to camp - day two!

opening night of goldrush -- monday. amazing worship!

connor and some of the guys from his cabin ready to head out onto the ropes course. don't you love technology. i really am not stalking my boy with a camera while he's at summer camp. someone else does that and posts pictures which we desperate parents can pour over ... download and post! camp highland ... you guys rock!

sarah on her mission's project today (a picture which i shamelessly stole right off her instagram)!

freedom

july 4th ~ freedom

"you, my brothers, were called to be FREE. but do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, SERVE one another in LOVE. the entire LAW is summed up in a single COMMAND: "LOVE your neighbor as yourself." ~ galatians 5:13-14

grateful this morning to live in the land of the free.
grateful this morning to have life in the Lord of the free.


don't you think this verse about freedom is interesting?
in one breath freedom is mentioned. in the next, we see words like "do not" and "serve" and "law" and "command."
but then ... LOVE.
a mixed message? i don't think so.
a meaningful message, however.

freedom isn't free.

freedom doesn't mean -----
we do what we want.
we always get our own way.
we aren't accountable to anyone.
we have no boundaries or burdens.
try that with your children and see what happens.
i've had to explain this to my kids ... i've had to remember this myself:
freedom does have something to do with following the rules, figuring out right and wrong and finding out how to serve and love others before ourselves.

freedom isn't about ourselves ...
freedom is sacrifice.
freedom is selflessness.
sometimes, freedom is surrendering.

i'm writing about what we have in our country and what we have in our Christ.

freedom was never meant to be taken for granted or greedy.
freedom is a gift, it is, ultimately, grace.

and, this july 4th, i'm so thankful it's been given.

from home to home

flying from HOME to HOME tonight.
leaving the place of my childhood -- cleveland ohio -- and heading back to atlanta georgia --- the city which has claimed most of my adult life.

it's always emotional.

to leave my parents who need me, especially my mom still in the hospital ... but to come home to my own little (and big) ones who also need me.

they are all my home and, guess what? i need them. all of them.

and on this plane tonight, thinking that in exactly one week from right now, i'll be flying across the world on my way to africa to spend time with women and children in an entirely different version of home. so different, my mind can't imagine, but so much the same, i just know, i'll be amazed.

feeling overwhelmed and emotional and grateful and, most of all, keenly aware of the gift God gives us, not in our shelters or our cities, but mostly in people.

people we love.
people who love us.
people we come back to quickly.
people we travel far distances to meet eagerly.
people we know well and people we have yet to know.
just people.

i realize i am sounding a little bit like a barbara streisand song from the 70's -- not really my intention. but i guess, like barbara, i am touched tonight by the people God has placed in my life. people from different seasons, different situations, different cities; but who provide  me a place which feels like home.

and it doesn't matter our skin color or our blood relation or our unique ways of doing things. it's something different. something even deeper.

maybe you, too, feel as if you live with little pieces of your heart scattered across the country --- the world. that sense of home: what is it? where is it? why is it sometimes even sad and somewhat incomplete? loved ones here and there. no way for them all to always come together. with the moving we've done, that is so true for my family. sometimes that feels incredibly heavy, i long for one gathering place of grace.

it's physical, yes, but more than anything, it's spiritual.

tonight, i'm just thankful though, that God allows me to come and go. to be here and there. not to be everywhere, but to have moments. and mostly to know this whole home-thing is not about HERE anyway, but about WHERE we will be for eternity.

that one gathering place of grace.

that perfect home-place with many rooms.

o Lord, that all my loved ones might someday meet me there.

"but our citizenship is in heaven, 
and from it we await a Savior,
the Lord Jesus Christ." ~ philippians 3:20

flying tonight from my people to my people. high in the sky. full in my heart.
traveling through all of this beautiful temporary with my eyes on the most beautiful eternal.

it's so good.

how can our summer bring such a thing?

it’s  an overcast evening in ohio and i've been out snapping some pictures of my mother’s rain drenched garden. today is the 53rd wedding anniversary of my parents. i wish i could tell you that i’m here tonight in the beautiful midwest to celebrate this sweet occasion, but that’s not the case. just a couple of weeks ago my mom was diagnosed with endometrial cancer and tomorrow she faces surgery.

we won’t know much about the stage or seriousness until pathology comes back post-surgery. all i know sitting here on this last night of lovely june, is that cancer is back in our midst much too soon. most of you are aware we lost rick’s mom not six months ago to cancer. how is it possible after this past winter of sadness that our summer would bring such a thing? my mother-in-law and my mom -- the last two women in the world who should receive such news. but, just like marilyn, my mom, sandy, is handling this with grace and dignity.

i shouldn’t be surprised, both of these women have always placed themselves and their families in the hands of Jesus.

i'm not surprised at my mom's grace, but i'm saddened she has to go through this kind of grief.

and i'm really not sure why cancer has had to be such a part of our lives. my own daughter questioned that recently. “it’s crazy mom, you, grammie and now grandma …” and all i could do was shake my head in agreement, “i know. i know, it is. crazy.”

it certainly feels crazy and wrong and even god-forsaken. but, friends, no matter what it “feels like” i know it is anything but god-forsaken. God is in this. He is with us. He is FOR us. i cannot offer up a scientific explanation, but i can assure you of the sincere faith the women in our family have. and my own girls get to see that, not just in the lovely haze of good times, but even more so, in the struggles and anxieties of real life -- where it really counts. and though we don’t have all the answers and we certainly wouldn’t choose this path for our loved ones, we trust in Him.

i'm sitting up here tonight on the summer sleeping porch writing, and my dad just poked his head in to say good night. before leaving my room he said, "jod, we don't know what tomorrow brings, but the Lord does. He is in control."
how thankful i am for parents who have this kind of faith.

but even with our trust and faith, i looked around my mom's garden tonight and i couldn’t help but feel heavy. my mom loves tending to her flowers. passionate doesn’t begin to describe my parents when it comes to their perennials! earlier, she and i were walking around the yard and i was listening as my mom pointed out the changes, additions, improvements. she knows every inch of this space: every bloom, every name, every weed ... i love that she enjoys this so fully -- that she enjoys life so fully. and, the simple fact is, i want her to always have this. as her daughter, i just hate what she has to go through tomorrow.

i cannot always wrap my brain around why beautiful things must be put on hold or taken from us. i don't get it and i don't like it. but, like the seasons which these flowers weather here in ohio, there is a time for all of it … as my dad said, "we don't know, but the Lord does." 

and somehow ... that's enough on this rain drenched night in ohio up on the summer sleeping porch.

can i ask you to pray for my mom? pray that the surgery would be successful and smooth and that her prognosis will be excellent.… and that she will be back on her feet and enjoying her garden very soon!

(dad, sorry, but you’re just gonna have to handle all the weeding for awhile).

53 years ago today, they said "i do!"

had to include one pic of "princess!"

not abandoned. never alone.

there's this delicate, white scar running the length of bella's chest. it's quite visible, but, honestly, i hardly see it anymore. not because it is disappearing, but because time has passed and it's just become a very normal part of her. like her button nose, or bony knees or that freckle on her third finger.

as far as scars go, it's a beauty.

but regardless of where it falls on the beautiful to ugly scale, i am thankful for that scar. i am thankful how it reminds me, even today, 6 years later, that bella's life was saved in a hospital in china.

recently, our girl has become incredibly curious about her start in life. very normal for an inquisitive 7 year old, but, i'm not going to lie, sometimes also a little challenging to explain the complexity. we take it question by question and pray for the right words. often (mostly at bedtime when she especially likes to stall) she asks me to tell her the story of how daddy and i flew in an airplane across the big ocean just for her. she especially likes the part when we first met and we found her holding a small carton of milk, a floral pillow and sack of powdered medicine. something about those items always cracks her up. (don't ask me. what can i say, she's 7). she wants to know about her orphanage and her gotcha day and our return trip back across that vast ocean. she has seen pictures (because, in our house, someone tends to take just a few) and i can almost watch her little mind at work piecing together the beginnings of bella grace xue mcnatt.

she is also starting to ask me a lot of questions about her surgery and that scar on her chest.

though she's pretty patient with the story, she still cannot understand why we weren't there with her when she went through surgery. truth be told, i don't quite "get that" either.

and i sugar coat the telling just a bit. i sugar coat because, the truth is, the truth is too hard for her to hear and too hard for me to tell right now. there will be a day, but that day is not at age 7.

our bella, whose name means beautiful, has some very non-beautiful parts to her beginning. but, like any parent, we focus on the good, the joy, the hope.

and that's how we try to live our day to day. because that's what parenting requires regardless our child's beginning. and because, seriously, how can we do it any differently?

but over the years of loving bella, one of the things which has always haunted me most about her emergency heart surgery is that she was alone. not quite 18 months old and alone in a hospital for a life-saving surgery. a year and half and no choice but to spend 30 days in recovery without a daddy by her side or a mommy to stroke her hair.
like, y'all know,  i can't even go there.
in fact, i've always done everything i could to not spend too much time on that piece of her story. as her mother, it just flat out feels too heavy -- my little girl going through a risky-no-guarantees-open-heart-surgery on the other side of the world ... alone.

it won't surprise you, but i have wept over that knowledge -- even in recent years.

enter meredith and ruby.

meredith is a gal that i kinda-sorta "met" last spring while we were both in birmingham for the big step-sing performance at my daughter, emily's college, samford university. meredith, a samford graduate, was also attending on behalf of the charity this event supported. meredith was in b'ham for the festivities, but, actually, china is home right now as she lives and works at the morning star family home. this young woman, not that far removed from the college scene herself, is serving and loving the vulnerable. the morningstar foundation, in china and uganda, cares for orphaned and abandoned children with severe heart issues.

and little miss ruby is one of those heart babies.

ruby, an almost 18 month old ray of pure sunshine, has a serious heart defect which, a couple of weeks ago, led her to a no-guarantees-kind-of-surgery. in fact, i bet a lot of you have been following her story already. it's the kind of story you would have wanted to follow. and though this chapter was all about ruby and her heart and the prayers for her healing, it's been meredith's role in it which has been the most beautiful balm to my own heart.

this young woman, not attached by blood or paperwork, but taking care of baby ruby on the other side of the world.

young meredith loving ruby just like her very own. 

i follow meredith on facebook and instagram (and you should too, because she's brave and brilliant and oh-my-gosh-so-hilarious). i follow along, and, admittedly, pretty much stalk the poor girl, "liking" just about everything she posts and telling everybody i know about her and why they should follow her too.

and then one day she begins to post about ruby.
ruby. orphaned and alone and in dire need of heart surgery. 

meredith's IG post: ... {you might want to grab a tissue first. or the whole box}.

so now you sorta understand what i'm talking about, right?

this post where she writes and tells about handing ruby off to the doctors and watching her head into surgery. this post where meredith claims ruby not as abandoned and alone, but as treasured and loved. "ruby did not go into that surgery as an orphan. she went as a treasured daughter, loved so fiercely that neither blood or piece of official paper was needed to prove a single thing. she has my whole heart, this little gem. for as long as she is a part of my life? i am absolutely the lucky one."

and i read that and wept for meredith and ruby and bella and the joy of a love like this that can only come from Jesus.

this post pierced that haunted place in my heart about bella's own surgery 6 years ago in china. it left me raw and wide open, but for the first time completely reminded of God's merciful presence. i don't know if bella had a meredith out in the hallway cheering for her. i don't know if she had a meredith pleading in prayer for her life or waiting for permission to kiss her tiny hands ... but reading meredith and ruby's story this month, i am given such great peace that bella was, indeed, never alone. not for one single minute of that 30 day hospital recovery.

not for one minute in that staircase where she was left as a sick baby.

not for one single second of her life since.

and though no mama ever wants to think about her child feeling abandoned or frightened or alone, it is such grace to be reminded that Jesus came to this earth and did what He did so that we, no matter our circumstances or our heart-breaking situations, are treasured and loved.

“nevertheless, I am continually with you …”    ~ psalm 73:23

meredith is the hands and feet of Jesus to sweet little ruby. she'll always be that baby girl's heart-mama. this young woman (did i mention she's only a couple years out of college) who watched this little gem head into a surgery with no promise of success; this young woman who waited "not so patiently" in the waiting room; this young woman who prayed and pleaded and kept vigil ... she, too, is a jewel.

and the sweet encouragement she's given me about my own little girl 6 years ago, is pure treasure.

in two weeks i'll be heading to africa as a storyteller for the orphans and widows who are a part of wiphan {widows+orphans} in zambia. i don't know what kind of opportunities i'll have to listen and talk and love and touch ... but as i prepare to visit this country, i am going with a heart full of hope and joy for all children who have had, like bella and ruby, some not so beautiful beginnings. there's hope that even these little ones whose lives have been left vulnerable and whose hearts have been unjustly broken, these children are not forgotten, not abandoned and never alone.

"let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, 

for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven." ~ matthew 19:14

the children of zambia's stories. bella's story. ruby's story. meredith's story. my story. your story. they are all about the work Jesus can do in any heart. 

"the Lord GATHERS the outcasts ... He HEALS the brokenhearted and BINDS UP their wounds.He determines the number of stars; He gives to all of them their names. great is our Lord, and ABUNDANT in power; His understanding is BEYOND MEASURE. The Lord lifts up the humble."
  ~ psalm 147: 2-6

don't forget to follow meredith (meretoering) on instagram -- you'll be so glad you did! 
you can also find her on facebook.
please click on morningstar foundation to find out more about this ministry.