Holly Starr - Psalm 23

Trip Lee - I'm Good Ft. Lecrae (@triplee116 @Lecrae)

Fridays Letters

dear fears I really want to kick you to the curb, I'm a punk when you're around.

dear australia I'm thinking & praying about coming, get ready! dear laptop I am very thankful for you, because of your existence in my life my job is so much easier to do. dear apples I am sad that the price that is required in order to purchase you has gone so high, so I suppose it shall be pumpkin everything for fall! dear boots your inagural wear on saturday was great, I was looking good! However the combination of extensive heel wearing, running on the tredmill (I don't usually do the tredmill) and wearing new shoes (for 6+ hours) made me so sore! dear treadmill I am not a runner, but I am rather proud of the fact that I ran longer then 5 consecutive minutes today, more like 10 so you know...

dear kb/lecrae/trip lee/andy mineo I'm brushing up on my gangtsa, you have no idea how geeked I am about the concert in a week. I COULD WEEP! dear job I've had enough of you this week, it's been real. I'm grateful for my two days off and the lesser work week next week. dear kid at work you are sweet, I love how you want to go and read Revelation before bed, and that you know the books of the Bible and that your favorite is Jeremiah! dear Bible good stuff...

Nehemiah 9:28

²⁸ “But as soon as they were at rest, they again did what was evil in your sight. Then you abandoned them to the hand of their enemies so that they ruled over them. And when they cried out to you again, you heard from heaven, and in your compassion you delivered them time after time.

Hebrews 9:28

New International Version (NIV)

²⁸ so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.

Part of letting go...

You'll have to excuse me, I am about to do something I have never done before;

but maybe it's necessary every now and then, to let go & try not to control everything. 

 

Lately I feel like everything has been crazy busy,

I've been running here & there,

editing like a mad women!

As of last week I had five shoots to edit

& added another Saturday.

I've made progress on that...

Once I finished one, two others were completed.

I love photography,

but I hate the stress of deadlines;

especially when people keep bothering me about it.

As much as I would love it,

photography is not my main job

& I only have so much time.

Before going to South Africa

& since coming back I have been under a lot of pressure.

Some of it is brought upon by my own doing

& the expectations I seem to have for myself.

Which makes that pressure totally unnessessary.

 

 

When one puts so much expectation on oneself,

guilt is inevitable.

I need to practice being more of a "Mary" then a "Martha"

(Luke 10:38-42)

{I've been listening to a sermon series on the book of Luke,  by Mark Driscoll} 

Martha is a doer, a full schedule, active, planner, Type A, task orientated, all about the presents for Jesus rather then Mary who is concerned with the presence of Jesus.

Mary is contemplative, word based, Type B, relational, full heart.

Don't get me wrong, the Bible says "...but be ye doers of the Word not hearers only."

so there is something to be said about accomplishing things,

but when you run & run & run for God but never have time with the Lord,

you might as well be a hearer only & you (I am included) decieve yourself.

This has been something God has been teaching me for some time!

Since returning from Africa God has been pointing things out in my life that He is working on. For awhile I was so focused on "these things I have to work on" but as I was talking with a friend, I felt discouraged, my friend suggested that I look at it as things God is developing in me. God has been developing a lot, it's rough!

If you try to be both a "Mary" & "Martha" you are exhausted, a "Martha's" day begins early in the morning & goes until sundown, trying to squeeze a "Mary" moment (prayerful time with the Lord) it's not worth anything.

Lord, give me a "Mary's heart" & "Martha's hands",

help me to let go of the unimportant & get my priorities in order.

 

I've also been reading (yes, reading! btw if you didn't know, I rarely read anything but the Bible. Not that nothing else is worth reading, I just don't have time.)I

've been reading "Radical" by David Platt,

if you haven't read it, go find it and read it.

This book will wreck your life & your view of "the church".

But I'll get into that & what it says at a later time...

but seriously, go read it!

____________

 

One thing I have made time for, other then editing, is cooking/baking with my dear friend Heather.

She was in Mozambique all summer so our days of cooking & baking took a 3 month sabatical.

Since she came back we have had 3 days together of baking & cooking gooness.

We've made Blueberry cupcakes with lemond curd,

pumpkin cinnamon rolls, lettuce wraps. We tried making a spinach/tomato orzo soup, it was more like an orzo dish with no broth...oops!

 

This week we made baked apples with an oatmeal, struesel topping.

&

Spinach/feta bake.

_______

 

| BAKED APPLES |

 

The baked apples were so easy.

This is how it goes...

Large Apples  (I used Gala appples)

*We cut the apples in half & used a small ice cream scoop to take out the core/stem & make a "bowl" for the topping to go in.

*for the topping I mixed butter, oatmeal, cinnamon, nutmeg, brown sugar, ginger & all spice together. (I didn't have quite enough butter so I added some EVOO)

I used the small ice cream scoop to scoop the topping onto the apples,

then baked them @ 350 for about 35 min.

 

They came out so great! Tastes like apple crisp, with more apple. 

 

| Spinach & Feta Bake | 

 

This was so good!

 

1st step: Lightly coat a 9-inch pie plate with cooking spray.

2nd step: In medium sauce pan cook onion & garlic in hot oil until onion is tender.

 3rd step: combine 1 cup cottage cheese, 1 cup crumbled feta, 1 egg in a bowl & mix it all together.

4th step: combined cooked onions to the mixture of cottage cheese, feta & egg.

5th step: cook spinach in light oil and garlic (we used about12-18 oz of fresh spinach)

6th step: when spinach is cooked combine with the cottage cheese, feta, egg & onion mixture. Mix together & put in 9-inch pie plate.

7th step: mix bread crumbs and parmesan cheese together & sprinkle on top.

8th step: bake @ 350 for 30-35 min.

Makes about 6 servings.

 

I am not usually a leftovers fan, but for this I was!

Enjoy.

 

__________

 

*By the way, the thing I did that I have never done before is...

posting photos without editing them.

The photos in the post are 100% unedited, straight from the camera.

(That is so scary to me...)

Honestly, the photos look good {breathe} part of letting go....

mrs. hall

Mrs. Hall,
A beauitful, little bird told me you like to read my blog and look at my pictures. I do apologize for the lack of content lately. Life has been hectic, however I hope to have somethings to say. Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoy what is to come. Thanks for being a great mom to my dear friend!
-B

ughhh

 

feeling so overwhelmed really needing

 encouragement from the Lord today.

I guess I better get down to business...

*to defeat the Huns*

how PIN-teresting

via

Snickerdoodle cake! I think this would make an excellent wedding cake!

via

via

via

Recipes for homemade vitamin water.

via

via

Coffee cake pancakes.

via

via

23+1=24

It was my 24th birthday today.
It was a good day. Pretty adult. :)

I woke up this morning to the sound of rain and storms. I love.love.love the sound of rain.
Laying in bed when it's dark outside just hearing the soft or rough sound of rain. LOVE IT.
Recently I read Hosea 6:3, hearing the rain reminded me of that.







"Let us acknowledge the Lord;
let us press on to acknowledge him.
As surely as the sun rises,
he will appear....

Hosea 6:3

As I sat listening to the rain that verse was in my head,
rain is refreshing, and it saturates the ground.
Oh that I would press in and acknowledge Jesus.
He will appear!

______
Today went a little like so...

Went to the gym.
breakfast. computer work.
had lunch with my parents.
wandered around some stores.
met friend for time at mall & sushi.
and fro yo!
then target!
Found some cute things!!

(*I would have pics but my phone pics didn't load, maybe I'll post them tomorrow)

I must go for tomorrow will start early.
Babysitting my favorite little guy all day!

On the eve of 24...

I'm taking a tiny break from posting about Africa 

to write something personal about life lately.(I have at least one more installment to come)

Today is the eve of my 24th birthday.... I know 24 really isn't that old, & most of the time I feel like I am still 17. My expectations of what will happen each year are always great, what I think will happen never usually does yet each year I am learning more and more.
This year I decided my theme verse would be 1 Thessalonians 5:16-19 "rejoice always; pray without ceasing; give thanks in all circumstances for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." I haven't been doing so great at rejoicing or praying always or giving thanks in all things.
My prayer for the next year of life is to rejoice, to pray always and to give thanks.
Maybe instead of having so many expectations I'll just go with the flow, doing whatever God puts in my heart to do. There are a lot of things I would like to do, but if in a year I can look back and say "yes I rejoiced and prayed and gave thanks" it will be worth it.

The past year has been so much of something... frustrations, surprises, joys, good memories, growth, revelations. I hope this next year there is way more growth - in faith and trust in the Lord. I want a deeper relationship with Jesus. I am seeing so much how important relationships are, it is so hard for me to be relational. (that shows my selfishness and pride) I so desperately want that to be pruned from these branches!
In the midst of all this I know God is good and He has a plan for me. Oh that I would let go, that the wall of selfishness, vanity, pride be broken down. May Gods love and peace reign in my heart and life!

At the end of 2011/beginning of 2012 I made the following list, as for how I am doing with it well....

A. A little spontanaity
I think I have done better at this, if spontanaity and crazy are the same thing. lol
I did go to Paris...like out into Paris on the way to Africa.
B. Be content
at times, at times I feel content. 
C. Creativity. Do crafty/creative things each week.
Eh, so so. I haven't had a lot of time the last few months. I did mod podge maps on to journal books!
D. Do Something Cool
Went to Africa=WAY COOL; Went to Paris=ALSO WAY COOL; went on a safari= SUPER COOL; went hiking up a hill to a waterfall=REALLY COOL
E. "Era" photo shoot
Haven't done this yet.
F. Food, try new recipes & photograph & write them down.
Tried a lot of new ones thanks to cooking/baking days with Heather.
G. Greek. Be able to read Scripture passaged in Greek & translate into English by Christmas of 2012.
OOOH I better start working on this!
H. Have fun.
eh so so
I. Increase skills in photography by researching & trying new things.
New camera has helped this!
J. Jesus time, more often. Be more intentional and carry it out.
Really need to work harder at this.
K. Knit more, create more things.
Yeah that dream went out the window.
L. Live by 1 Thes. 5:16-18.. Rejoice always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances.
Did ok at the beginning of the year (like basically January) but haven't done so hot lately.
M. Make memories.
YES...AFRICA counts as a ton of really really great memories!!!
O. Open a can.....
oh whoop .... (lol) idk or one of worms... eh hope not... [I have no idea what I meant by this]
P. Productive & positive yet restful & relaxed. Live with balance.
eh maybe? most of the time.
Q. Quit making excuses for everything!
no comment...anything I think of to write here sounds like an excuse (like what I just wrote) so apparently I need to keep working on this.
R. Run more. Be more of a runner on 12/31/12 then I am now.
I'm no Marion Jones but..... I'm definitely more of a runner now then I was in Dec of '12...
S. Save money by staying away from "just because" trips to...Target/Biggby?hobby Lobby
The last two weeks have been ok!

T. Take a lot of pictures.

1,800 in Africa alone, I have been taking a lot of pictures! Plus 2 weddings, and some other stuff..

This is Africa | Week 2

Sunday - 5 August 2012

Sunday was a bittersweet day, my sister and I would be heading over to Baptist camp to stay with a group that was coming in from Texas. Sunday morning we went to church at GodFirstCity, it was amazing! That perticular day they had a guest worship leader, she was from Cape Town and was also the captain of the womens Springbucks Team for South Africa.

I would honestly compare her to Kari Jobe! The church was awesome, people of different languages, cultures, countries, backgrounds. I felt like this is what a church should be. God1stCity meets in a nightclub/restaurant every week. As we were singing I was filled with emotion, I knew we were at the middle point of our time in Africa and only had a week left. At that point I had no desire to go home.

View from where we stayed.

My sister and I were dropped off by Rich Franzen and Micah, they helped us bring things in, showed us around and left us to organize some stuff while they went to retrieve the team who was to arrive that night.

 Joanna and I got our room set up, organized the Impact Africa merch, got the kitchen in order, washed our jeans in the sink and hung them to dry outside, got dinner ready and waited for the team.

At least our pants had a view while they dried. It took a long time for them to dry because it wasn't very warm

and the wind was cold.

While we waited Richs wife and three kids came by and we chatted with them for awhile.

I just loved getting to know them, I had read about them and heard about them from my sister. But to talk to Michelle and the kids was great because I saw the passion they have and heard what God had done to get them where they are today.

City view from where we stayed.

Bokeh lighting from the view.

The team arrived, brought in all of their luggage and we all ate. It was a little awkward, new people not sure what to say...by evening we had gotten more and more comfortable with the team
It's because of the game "Mafia" (seriously this group LOVES this game)
I had played before at church and with the interns the week before, but the TX team plays it slightly different and it was great!
We honestly played this game almost every night, several times!
It was like this game was our life outside of ministry. When we weren't talking about ministry we were talking about Mafia, but it was so much fun!

Monday - 6 August 2012

Our ministry started with two days in Diepsloot, Monday morning we started with training which I was so grateful for.

This new way of doing ministry felt so vast. I was so familiar with one certain way of doing ministry that I felt really overqualified in one area but completely underqualified to do what was being explained.

As we set out for ministry I was a "leader" of a group, I was totally unsure about what to do.

My team was fantastic and just jumped right in.

They looked to me for a bit of guidance and direction and I helped where I could,

but I also made sure to tell them this was all new to me too and I was learning right along with them

"River" in Diepsloot, the smell was so pungent and awful.
Garbage is just left and the "water" running through the sqautter camps is not clear nor is is cloudy,
it is gray and smells awful and filled with bacteria and disease.
Thankfully there are water pumps through out the camps so those who live in the squatter
 camps can have access to clean water.

After our afternoon in Diepsloot we headed back to Impact Kids to head back to Baptist Camp for dinner. After eating dinner we sorted through supplies the team brought for the womens conference.

We put together 300+ welcome bags and 300+ gift bags and 50ish door prizes with a lot of times going back to take something out or put something in or recheck.
However after about 3 hours our team of 18 had it completely finished.
So what did we do?
Play Mafia of course!

On Monday as I prepared to go to bed I was journaling and talking with my sister. I shared how I felt so flatline. My emotions weren't what I thought they would be. I didn't feel like I had a story to share nor did I feel wise enough to share. I know the Bible but I don't KNOW the Bible...
I've memorized verses and have a lot of head knowledge, the translators we worked with KNOW the Bible so well, verses & references and I was feeling so illequipped.  

Tuesday - 7 August 2012

2nd day ministry group.
Me, Bethany, LaNell and Michelle Franzen with two women we ministered to and a translator.
The two women (the ones wrapped in blankets) both made a decision to make Jesus King of their life.

As we were talking to the two ladies above there were several others that joined in. Michelle was awesome at conversing, I was still feeling way out of my element but with every conversation God was giving me more and more confidence.
This type of ministry is all about building relationships and I struggle so much with being relational.


This little girl found me my very first day in Diepsloot (and first day in Africa). She stayed with my group again the two days we were in Diepsloot. She loved being held and singing songs.





Impact Kids school in Diepsloot.
oh also while were in Diepsloot on this day, there was snow coming from the sky! I kid you not, winter in South Africa = cold.
However they haven't had snow for 20 years.
The kids were so excited!
As was Micah, he had been praying for it.

After ministry in Diepsloot back to Baptist camp we went for dinner and... MAFIA.



Wednesday - 8 August 2012

Impact Kids school in Kya Sands













To Kya Sands we go!


Wednesday was our first day in Kya Sands. Our ministry destination for that day was the other side of the river of Kya.
So cross it we must, I was a little nervouse about this because we are warned to not go into the water, you could grow a limb.
Also last summer as my sister was crossing she fell in.
However our whole group was successful and no one fell in; the guys were awesome in helping us females across.
Our ministry group this day was great, we started talking to one guy about the gospel and stayed there for quit awhile.


Karen (in the Arkansas sweatshirt) was so funny, you could hear her saying "mmmmhmmm" or "ok" all over.
She was getting in on what these two ladies were doing.
Seriously Karen could be in a Madea movie she is that kind of funny!


As Timmy (in blue) and Zach (in green and red) talking to some guys.
In the morning my group was in this spot talking to some guys,
we had intern Sarah with us but the whole time we were talking to them I felt as though they were mocking us.
Mostly everyone we talked to was open and wanting us to talk to them but we did find some people who were uninterested.



Zach using our Bibles to explain how there is a gap between us and God.

Timmy, Karen, Timba (translator) and Carrie warming themselves by the fire.
Behind them are the port-a- potties, behind those we saw big rats.
Timba says the rats are so big they chase the cats. He says the cats don't even try to eat the rats, they just lean up againts a wall and watch and eat cornflakes. (I'm sure some of the story is made up lol )




Kids at Impact Kids eating snack.


As we were walking through the alleys of Kya sands we came across this little girl.
I think she was scared stiff, she stood in that same spot for about 20 minutes. I watched her and tried to play with her,
she cried a bit then stopped but started up again later.
We wondered if maybe she hadn't ever seen a white person before.


Thursday - 9 August 2012


On the way to discipleship groups we found these kids at a daycare in the squatter camp.
We had to drop some things off for them and we stopped to play for a few minutes.

 
Crossing the bridge, it was made of wood and tin and a bit scary to cross.

Thursday we had a short morning of ministry before lunch and disicpleship groups.

Denis (translator) reading from his Bible in discipleship group.

Discipleship groups are so cool because through ministry in Kya Sands there are people who have believed on Jesus.

So the interns and translators go in and do discipleship groups. When we were there they were going through the book of Acts. This particular day whatever was said was translated in three different languages.

This was such a neat experience to see the interest and passion for Gods word. 

The discipleship groups meet outside or in a shack or an open space. 

The space we were here was an open shack "porch"we used buckets or cement blocks to sit on, really whatever we could find. 

As I think about this now these discipleship groups remind of what the church is suppose to be. 

I am currently reading the book "Radical" by David Platt and in the book it talks about churches, how we "have" so many things that we "need" for church.

Here, in these groups they only need the Bible, I am sure even if there were no translators God would make a way for everyone to understand.

After a morning of ministry and afternoon discipleship groups we walked back, freshened up and headed to Moyo in downtown Johanesburg.

All the girls.

The guys.

Joanna and I at Moyo after getting our faces painted.

The whole group.

the Bethany's

Moyo is an authentic African restaurant, but its very ritzy.

So beautifully designed and stylish. There was great music and good food, I had flamed fillet (steak).

So good!

______________

Post about Womens conference & kids camp as well as last day coming up!