Clearly there is a difference...!

In the mission house we are at, Micah and Savannah have to share the same room. More often than not... This is how the room looks. She was trained well by her big sis :)

Yum!!

Anyone who knows me knows I love coffee... No flavors, just strong and with a little half n half. Easy, right? Back to that not high maintenance thing. :)


I don't like nuts. I am not southern. But this coffee.... I LoVe it!!

We are in KC,MO, and while at the local Price Chopper I just happened to see it and scooped it up figuring Dan will drink it! So I got home, brewed it a little stronger than usual (notice the dot closer to the "light" side on the little gauge at the bottom??) and I can honestly say it is one of the first flavored coffees I actually like!! Now it is 5:20 pm where I am. Tastes a little like a dessert, so I am not too sure of this could be my morning joe, but hey! This is a good thing!! I hope that I can begin to enjoy it with less and less creamer. The day I can drink black coffee is the day I will truly feel like a grown up :)

Chipotle to Chipata...!

Hands down, Chipotle is my favorite restaurant. I am not high maintenance, and this definitely proves it!

Fresh, the way I want it, and enough for two meals... what more could I ask for??!

How about one in Chipata!???

Likely it won't be happening anytime soon, for so many reasons. I have been compiling internet recipes for many of my favorite things that I conveniently buy is America from a mix. I am learning what cumin, cilantro, thyme and cardamon are, and when and how to use them. YUm!! This has really expanded my "just throw it together and see what you get" cooking style!

So, in my efforts to learn all things Chipotle so that I can recreate my favorite restaurant in Zambia at my own kitchen table, I have found this GeM of a site!! ChipotleFan  Oh MY!! Everything I could want... all in one place!

Everything from the meat recipes to the salsas, and even the lettuce and sour cream... which in my opinion are so obvious, right?! In any event, we are having company while here in KC, MO, on Thursday night (wow! Being a hostess while on deputation is certainly a FIRST for me!! ) (Except the time we had friends in the camper for Keurig coffee one night...) (So would this be the second time??!)

Anyhow, I am excited to try all of these things for our friends! WooHoo!! :)

The Joy of the Lord...

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 

John 1:1 

In church today, I received a double blessing. We were in a church in the heart of Kansas City, Midtown Baptist Temple, and it is in a location that most pastors would not even take a second glance at when it came time to choose a church location. The neighborhoods on either side each made the top 20 list of the worst neighborhoods in America. The pastor left a thriving church with a well established ministry to be a visionary man for the Lord and start a work in the city. To reach the Lost. The undesirables. Anyone they could! Truly the Lord is blessing their work, and today was such a treat for us!

The collection of people felt a little like the way it will in Glory, with every tribe and tongue praising God. Truly the presence of the Lord is in that place! Before church even began, I noticed this man. I don't remember his name, but I loved watching him read his Bible.

He had to look in the beginning for the page number of the book the preacher wanted us to turn to, and once he got to the right place, he began to read. His face would break out in a massive smile, and he would continue to look at the pages of the scripture just like the Lord himself wants everyone of us to. He would be lost for a while, or so it looked to me, just basking in the love letter that Jesus wrote just for him. He would miss several other requests to turn to other passages because he was so engrossed in what the verses he was reading were teaching him. Words of Promise, Hope, Purpose.

It was as if his face completely revealed on the outside the exact same change those words had done - and were continuing to do - to him on the inside. Give him LIFE, JOY, HAPPINESS! I have no idea of his place in life. He had a large back pack with him, and may have very well been homeless, and was appreciating a dry place to sit for a while during a massive thunderstorm, with a hot cup of coffee and a few donut holes to fill his stomach. He may have had plans after church, and needed to take a bus so he has to keep his things with him. I have no idea.  

I do know his joy was contagious. I could not watch him without smiling myself. I couldn't stop praying for him, that the Lord would continue to draw this man into His grace. And for ME! that I might display the joy of the Lord in the same way for any and all to see.

This is an amazing ministry, and I am glad we were able to fellowship with them today.

God Works in the Wire(less)

I had written a post yesterday, and while I truly wanted to publish it, I delayed. For many reasons, but mostly for the sole reason of I truly wanted to know if I should put it out there on the www. It had nothing bad, but it may have had the possibility for some to read "into" it if they should choose. While that was not the intention,  I realized there was that possibility.

So I delayed. And saved it. And prayed about it.

And today... it is all gone. Deleted. Vanished.

I have been on blogger for nearly 5 years, and that has never once happened to me. Not once!

I can only conclude... The Lord answered. And it was NO. Wow! I wish all of the time the answer was that clear!

Thankful for the obedience to delay... so the LORD could act. Maybe that has been my problem all along. I rush ahead of the LORD and figure "I got this one", and all the while he is waiting for me to LET HIM BE GOD. I think there is a word for that, and it may start with a pat... and end with ience... but I am not specifically praying for that...! I think he teaches us that without us asking for it.