Stuck in the Airport

We've been stuck in the London airport ALL DAY! Boring. Boring. More BORING. When we got here it was raining which didn't make us too excited to go out and explore the city. Plus we needed to make sure that our luggage was being forwarded to South Africa and there wasn't anyone working at the South Africa Airlines desk until just a couple of hours ago. Basically since I left Des Moines last night at 7, I've sat on an airplane for 9 hours and in an aiport for about 5. Our flight leaves for Johannesburg at 7. It's 5:25pm here right now. It's an 11 hour flight and we'll arrive in South Africa at 7am tomorrow morning. Let me tell you that sitting in a cramped seat all night last night was not easy and it was only an 8 hour flight. On the brighside, I did get to see the Sex and the City movie. I'm not looking forward to this 11 hour flight at all. But we're here for a reason and it will all work out fine I'm sure.

South Africa Here I Come!

Today's the day... I'm leaving for South Africa at 6:55 tonight. I'm definitely feeling a range of emotions this morning. Part of me is super excited to get going and start having some adventure. Another part of me is really nervous and not so excited. I'm worried about what it's going to be like to travel that far away and be in flight for so long. And of course there's the big worry about getting homesick. Everytime I think about leaving my family and friends to go away for two weeks I start to cry. How am I going to do this??? I'm gonna have to take a big leap of faith here and trust God to get me through this. I'm sure that other members of our group are going to have some homesickness too. Most of them have children and I couldn't imagine leaving my children. So I guess knowing that I'm not the only one who probably feels this way helps a little. We can all depend on each other, right?

I'll be at the airport in about 8 1/2 hours. Here's hoping that the excited part of me takes over and squashes the nervous part before then.

Song of the Day

Francesca Battistelli
Behind the Scenes

I know I just posted a song from this artist a couple of days ago but now that I've gotten a chance to listen to more of her songs, I had to share this one too. I wish you could all hear this song. It's so beautiful. I don't think just posting the lyrics does the song justice because the lyrics and the melody together are what make it so great. The verse that really caught me was "Sometimes I can’t see anything through the dark surrounding me and at times I’m unsure about the ground beneath my feet. If it’s safe and sound. When it’s hard to find hope in the unseen, I have peace in knowing it will find me". I have a feeling this song will get a lot of play on my iPod while I'm in South Africa because those lyrics speak to me and say that even though I don't know the experiences that are awaiting me on this trip, God is working behind the scenes and everything will work out just as He intends it to and my hope lies in believing that with all my heart.

Here's the chorus...

Things aren’t always what they seem
You’re only seeing part of me
There’s more than you could ever know
Behind the scenes
I’m incomplete and I’m undone
But I suppose like everyone
There’s so much more that’s going on
Behind the scenes

Song of the Day

Sexy Love
Ne-Yo

This song has been out for a couple years, but I just found it and I love it.

When I am Weak, He is Strong

We started a new series today at church called "Identity Theft". The lessons are all about the lies that we believe. Today's lesson was called "I have to be Strong". As I prepare for my trip to South Africa, this couldn't have been a more fitting topic.

Isaiah 40: 28-31

"Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."

I'm so excited to go on this trip to see what I can do to help people and to see what God has in store for me, but I'm really going out of my comfort zone here. I get cranky when I'm tired and cranky when I'm hungry. And I get homesick when I go out of town for one night. And I'm outgoing and everything, but I'm not 100% sure about spending two weeks with people I don't know... halfway around the world. And flying on a plane for 21 hours... don't even get me started. What was God thinking asking me to go on this trip? Seriously. I got teary in church this morning thinking about it and I'm getting teary now as I write this. The only explanation I have so far is that he knows my weaknesses and he's asking me to stop trying to be strong and do everything myself. And he's asking me to trust Him this time and know that in my weakest moments He will be strong. And finally in those moments I'll see His true power.

Here goes nothing...

Song of the Day

Free to Be Me
Francesca Battistelli

I discovered this artist on The Hills last week and I liked her so much that I downloaded her whole album. It's called "My Paper Heart". Check it out!

It's Garage Sale Day!!!

Today is opening day of the BIG garage sale fundraiser for my trip! If you need a new wardrobe and you'd like to get it for SUPER SUPER cheap... you must come to this sale! If you would like to redecorate your home and you don't want to spend much money... you must come to this sale! If you like to read and you're looking for newer releases for under $3... you must come to this sale! If you're in need of a new purse... we have about 30, so you must come to this sale!

My friends and family were all SOOOOOO generous. They donated so many items that are such great quality... some of them still have the tags on them. The sale is today until 2pm and tomorrow 7am to noon. Please come by and say hello and see if there's anything you can't live without!

Meet the Kids!

Here's a great photo of the kids at The Pines Christian Centre in South Africa! These are the kids that we've been supporting through our ministry at Point of Grace. And through our upcoming mission trip we'll be renovating space for another apartment so that even more kids can come to live at The Pines and grow up healthy and safe and able to go out and change their lives and their country through the greatness of Jesus Christ!

Busy is Good

I've officially decided that busy is good and totally wins out over laziness any day! I've had all sorts of projects lately and I feel so accomplished and motivated to keep going. For the past two weeks, Matt and I have been working like crazy to get his new house move-in ready. We've painted, cleaned carpets, cleaned walls, and lots of other small projects here and there. Matt and his dad built an island in his kitchen too, which I thought was pretty impressive. Don't you just love a handy guy! You should see how great his place looks!

And on the days I haven't been helping Matt, I've been getting ready for the big garage sale this weekend. Wow... garage sales are a LOT of work! First I had to gather all of my own things and then drag them over to Kyra's. My family and friends (who I love immensely!!) drug their stuff over to Kyra's too. We priced it all and organized it on tables and racks and now we've got ourselves a fabulous sale all set up and ready to start on Friday morning at the crack of dawn. I'm praying that the sale will go very well and we'll sell ALL of our stuff and raise lots of money for South Africa. And bonus if we sell everything, we don't have to haul it all away:) My goal is to raise enough to pay off the last $600 of my trip. If we make more than $600, we'll use all of the extra money to buy medicine for the kids at The Pines. The families that run The Pines said they always need Tylenol and other over the counter medications for the kids. Our group already has a huge collection of beany babies, shoes, crafts, and other items to take to The Pines, so I figured that medicine would be an excellent way to use the garage sale profits to help the kids in South Africa.

I'm down to only 12 more days until departure. It's getting pretty realistic all of sudden and I'm getting SOOOOO excited!

Well said...

Disturb us, Lord, when we are too pleased with ourselves,
When our dreams have come true because we dreamed too little,
When we arrived safely because we sailed too close to the shore.

Disturb us, Lord, when with the abundance of things we possess
we have lost our thirst for the waters of life;
Having fallen in love with life, We have ceased to dream of eternity
And in our efforts to build a new earth, We have allowed our vision of the new Heaven to dim.

Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly,
To venture on wilder seas where storms will show Your mastery;
Where losing sight of land, we shall find the stars.
We ask you to push back the horizons of our hopes;
And to push back the future in strength, courage, hope, and love.

This we ask in the name of our Captain,Who is Jesus Christ.

– Sir Francis Drake who sailed in 1577.

Meet My South Africa Team...

Back Row: Me, Bart, Troy, and Steve

Front Row: Robyn, Wynde, and Julie

We leave two weeks from today!

Today's Song of the Day

Sleeping to Dream
Jason Mraz

18 more days...

Only 18 more days until I leave for South Africa! I've prayed quite a bit asking God to prepare my head and my heart for this trip and he has certainly showed up for me. For awhile I felt more worried than excited, but I'm over that hump now and I'm getting more excited every day. At this point I'm most worried about the following things...

What if I get motion sick during that LONG LONG flight?
What if I can't sleep and I get really tired and cranky with 6 people I don't know?
What if I get really homesick?

The good news is that none of my concerns have a worst case scenario that's all that bad. If I get motion sick, I'll just have to deal with it for a day or so. If I can't sleep and I get a little cranky, I'll just have to suck it up and keep going and try to keep my crankiness to myself. If I get homesick, I'll just have to stick it out and try to keep my mind busy and remember that I'll be home in no time and everyone and everything will still be here when I get back. Promise me you'll all be here when I get back!!! And if you could send me emails while I'm gone that would really help me too! You can send them to jameydeen@live.com.

Last night our team got together to take our group photo. As soon as it's emailed to me I'll post it so you can all see who I'll be traveling with. There are seven of us total, three men and four women. It's going to be so strange traveling for two weeks with 6 people I don't know very well, but they are all so nice and we now have a common bond that will last a lifetime thanks to this adventure in South Africa. I'm sure that God chose each one of us for a reason and as the trip goes along those reasons will be revealed. I'm really looking forward to seeing everything that He has planned for us, it's going to be unbelievable!

Song of the Day

Today's Song of the Day:

East to West
Casting Crowns

I've been listening to it on repeat for the past week. Definitely download this one.

Monday Morning Quote

We judge ourselves by what we feel capable of doing, while others judge us by what we have already done.

-Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

For years I have been trying to put my finger on why I'm so hard on myself and why others never seem to view me as I view myself. This quote is the perfect explanation, I wish it would have occurred to me sooner. I very much judge myself not based on how well I've accomplished a task, but by how much better I think I could have done it. What a shame that is! It keeps me from ever truly being proud of my accomplishments and to be honest it does make it impossible for me to ever see myself as others see me. Sometimes I wonder how I've gotten to where I am in my career, which I really shouldn't wonder about. I have worked hard and put a lot of time and energy into my job. My problem is that I spend a lot of time thinking that I'm capable of doing so much more new business, so much better at negotiating, so much better at this or that and I completely let those thoughts overshadow the bigger picture of what I have already accomplished. On one hand being hard on myself is what has pushed me to this level, but on the other hand it's sad that it stops me from really enjoying what I do. This quote and thought process doesn't apply only to my work, it applies to my personal life as well. Towards the end of my marriage, I had no idea why anyone would want to be married to me. I'm being serious. I could not see myself as other people saw me and my self esteem had plummeted. It was tough enough to get through some of the challenges Joe and I had to deal with, but putting on top of that a whole pile of "I had no idea who I was", did not help at all. I've come A LONG way in that aspect since my divorce, but it still pops up every once awhile. I'm sure everyone struggles with it a little from time to time, so I'm probably not that strange. (Try to hold your laughter.) So now that I've found this quote and the truth of it seems so obvious, I'm going to post it in my office and do my best to do my best and be happy with what I accomplish everyday... not judge myself so much on what I might have left on the table. Wow... that's deep for a Monday (oh wait, it's Tuesday) morning.