Be careful what you ask for.

It's amazing how comfortable you can become in your craziness, you know what I mean?! Like most busy moms out there, I too find my days full to the brim.  Between homeschooling our four children, (1st, 3rd, 7th and 8th grade) taking care of household duties, finances, cooking, not to count 'outside the home' duties as director of a girls home to over 40 young girls, Pastor's wife, ministry team, etc... there isn't much more time in the day!

However, for the last year, something has been pulling at my heart strings... I want to do more! 

Have you ever had a hunger for something but just can't get the satisfaction from anything you eat?  If you have ever been pregnant you might know very well what I am talking about but I have to admit, it happens sometimes even when I am not!  You grab the leftover cake, eat half of it and then realize what you really want is something salty, so you grab the first salty bag of chips, eat the whole bag just to realize you want fruit but then you are too full to eat anything else and just get frustrated that you wasted all those calories and you still aren't satisfied.  

I think that pretty much sums up some of the feelings we can get when we aren't allowing God to use us to our fullest potential.
John 13:7 Jesus replied, "You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand."

Sometimes we just don't understand what God is doing, why do we feel this way, what is the reason?  Sometimes we just need to trust Him when we say "God, use me."

This has been my prayer this year, "God, use me."  But that comes with a big fear factor. You've heard it before, be careful what you ask for!  The easy part is saying "God, use me."  The hard part comes when he does!

And that is just what he has done.

Growing up, my dad used to tell me the best way to overcome my fears were to face them.  I remember that became my motto and I probably did way to many dangerous things with that in mind.  Like diving off cliffs into lakes where my stomach literally brushed the tops of the trees, bungie jumping, skydiving, repelling, all in the name of facing my fear.  I wanted to overcome my fear of heights and so I tested it to the limits. (However, I still get some butterflies when I am too close to a window on the 10th floor of a building).

I believe when you trust God completely with your life, it is a lot like facing your fears, because let's be honest, the only reason most of us don't trust God 100% is because we are afraid. Afraid of what it will cost us, how it will make us feel, afraid of becoming something we aren't so sure we will be comfortable being, etc...

What is it you need to be asking God for?  What is it you are afraid of?  Are you being used to your fullest for Him?

This past year has been so much fun (and fearful at times) to see the doors the Lord has opened in my personal life as well as in our ministry.  I've been able to do some pretty amazing things like take several trips into the deep jungle to minister, become part of the leadership team for the youth at our church to help meet a need (not something I went to school for, ha!) do baptisms, baby dedications, funerals, and many other things that honestly I would have never of done, if it wasn't for three little words that I have been praying this year... God, use me!

it's funny the way the Lord works, the word says in 2 Cor 8:12 "For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what one does not have."

God is looking for a willing heart to pour into.

So what about you?  What are your heart strings being pulled at?  It's a pretty amazing journey to be used by God, but I warn you, be careful what you ask for!

Love what you do...Do what you love!

Two trips in two weeks, it's gotta be love!

 Just a couple weeks ago, I took a trip with three other ladies to three villages.  This week was down a different river, another group of ladies and a whole new place.  Susana Gomez is a missionary from Argentina that has been working with us for six years now and has been doing a wonderful job!  She started working in the village of Achuntza several years ago and just recently finished their church building.  Eleven of us went out on this mission this week and it was a jammed packed adventure!

Day one was a bus ride to the end of the road and to the port where we waited on three canoes to get us down river, several hours later and we were in the village of Achuntza where we were welcomed by this wonderful village! After a service, dinner and fellowship that evening we set up hammocks every which way we could get them hung in the church and fell fast asleep!
Day two was amazing, 6:00am service with the church, kids program at the school, volleyball with the women of the village (they killed us, lol), leadership workshop, several home visits including a baby dedication, First Aid workshop with the women in the church, church service and dinner!  That night we were settling in for another rainy night.
Day three woke us with flash flooding, the rivers were extremely high and chances of getting out were slim.  After several hours we were given a small clearing and were able to pack into two canoes and head back up river to port.  We even got to see a river dolphin on that very crazy rainy canoe ride!

It was a quick trip, lots a sweat, mud, rain and more rain but what I can't get away from is the fact that the people in the villages are so desperate for someone to show up, the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.  If we don't go, who will?

Here are some of the sights and sounds I brought back with me from this trip, hope you enjoy!

Watch Video Here

"The spirit of Christ is the spirit of missions.  The nearer we get to Him, the more intensely missionary we become." - H Martyn

When your heart leads.

I just returned for a trip into the "Jungle".  Although we live in the jungle, when we say we are going on a trip to the jungle, that means deep.  Past the end of the road, past the grocery stores, the comforts of running water and chocolate (yeah, I'm kind of chocolate junkie)!
I have to say that for me, the night before any trip to the jungle is like the night before Christmas for a child.  The expectancy, the joy, the hope, all wrapped up in a butterfly in my stomach!

What made this trip so different and exciting (and now that I'm back I'll confess... a little nervous as well) was the fact that it was the first time I would be taking a trip with just ladies.  We were a team of four, two of my heroes, Bertha and Amanda who are leaders in our national missions team, my sister in law Katie McDonald and myself.  We were quite the team and we were pumped!
It was going to be a quick trip, only three days but we were on a mission!  Our main goal was to support our local missions team in their evangelistic outreaches, visit our church plants and visit some new ones as well!  We were able to spend our days visiting with the beautiful people, pray for the sick,  encourage the weak, teach and preach.  We ate more grub worms than you'd care to know, drank chicha, enjoyed some fresh coconut juice and boiled peanuts from the jungle earth!
The dug out canoe was hard, the mosquitos mean, the rain fierce but I wouldn't trade it for the world.

When your heart leads, you follow!  And when your heart beats to the rhythm of missions, you go, no matter the cost!

In His Hands,
-Leah


To watch a little video recap of our trip, click link below:
VIDEO: TAKE ME WHERE MY HEART LEADS

Being Mom

One of my absolute favorite things in the world to do is hike.  I love the mountains, I love nature and I love exploring her!  There are times when I get this urge to just take off, anticipation to find what is foreign to my eye, to experience what is lying on the other side of the mountain.  
I also absolutely love being mom!  I have found that there are seasons in our lives, a very wise lady once told me to embrace the seasons that you have, because they last only a short time and before you know it, they are gone, moving on to something new.  I learned that when my children were very young and I have tried with everything in me to hold on to the season, but I've only recently felt that the season with my children, as much as I try to hold on, is slipping from my fingers, like water cupped from the stream, I cannot hold on.  I can, however, choose to live in the season, cherish the moments I presently have and live this season to it's fullest.   


This past week, our family had the opportunity to go hiking together, what an explosion of emotion for me, to have the ones I most love by my side when exploring God's creation!  We hiked at 11,500 feet to waterfalls and over mountains, exploring together and finding beautiful flowers, interesting insects and perfect hideaways!  


Those are the gifts I leave behind.  I may not be able to give my children expensive gifts or the latest gadgets, but what I can give is the love of adventure, memories that will forever be imprinted in their minds and hearts.  

Being mom is the most perfect feeling in the world and I am so very grateful for the opportunity!

Embrace your season!