² Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.”

Can you imagine hearing the voice of God telling you to do such an insane thing?  But Abraham had astounding faith and he recognized the voice of God.  Don’t know about you, I have trouble with both having faith and recognizing the voice of God.  But Abraham responded immediately “Here I am.”  He had an ear for hearing God.  There was no confusion, no arguing, no questioning, no “but God…. but…. you said….” just obedience and preparations for the journey to the mountain of sacrifice.  How could he take Isaac, his only son, one that he had waited on for almost 100 years,  and embark on this journey to sacrificial death?  Genesis 22:5 perhaps provides a clue.  When Abraham, Isaac, the donkey, and 2 servants arrived at the mountain, Abraham told the servants to stay with the donkey and “we (Isaac and Abraham) will come back to you.”  I think he knew all along that God would provide, he just didn’t have the details yet.  It was his tremendous faith in God that allowed him to take Isaac on a  journey which to the natural eye appeared to be a death trap.  Abraham knew God and exercised faith in God that he would fulfill his promises.  True to form, Abraham pulled out his knife and was ready to slay his only son just as God had ordered.  But once again, Abraham’s keen sense and ability to discern and hear the voice of God was immediate.  An angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham! And once again he replied, “Here I am.”  Most of you know how the story ended, but just in case, read the outcome in Genesis 22:-15.  He was not to lay a hand on the boy.  The Lord provided a ram for sacrifice.

Abraham must have had faith that God is a God of unlimited provision.  He called the place “The Lord will Provide.”  ”On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided”  What is this mountain of the Lord? Mountains often symbolize a tower of strength, immovable, permanent, wisdom, power, protection and magnificent beauty.

What aspects of your life do you need to exercise faith in God’s promises?  In your marriage, your relationships, your career, family, children, personal health?  I believe we can approach the “mountain of the Lord” where he provides a source of wisdom, strength, power, and protection from sin, from discouragement, guilt, shame, depression, anger, and various addictions.  Has God “promised” something to you but you don’t have the “details” just yet?

Yes, but “I’m not faithful like Abraham, I’ve had sin in my life,” or “I’ve made so many mistakes that I don’t think God would answer my prayers.”

Let me remind you that even though Abraham had tremendous, unwavering faith, he also demonstrated a lack of faith and even entered into sin on numerous occasions.  Let me start by listing a couple.  He lied about his wife Sarah being his sister on at least 2 separate occasions to protect himself.  Perhaps he is best known for sleeping with the maidservant Hagar and getting her pregnant with Ishmael. Significant consequences followed each of these sinful acts, but God was faithful and so was Abraham.  The New Testament refers to Abraham as “father of faith” not “that sinner who slept with Hagar.”

We’ve all sinned and fallen short of our high calling, but we can and must abide with our God on the mountain of provision each day.

There are those of us who feel like the Nobel Peace Prize is now even more of a joke than before because the left leaning Norwegians and Scandinavians awarded their highest honor to a man who has done absolutely nothing to restore peace.  Sure, he’s given apologetic speeches as he crisscrossed the globe and this soothes those who are jealous and hate the US.  But where are the results?  Where is the evidence that this kowtowing, blame US first attitude, accomplishes anything?  Has Iran decided to halt their nuclear fission program as a result of Obama’s apology?  What about North Korea?  Al Quieda? The Taliban? What about the IOC (International Olympic Committee)?  Nope.  But he can give an articulate  speech provided his teleprompter is in clear view and his Jeremiah Wright alter ego kicks  in.  Brett Stephens in his Wall Street Journal opinion piece points out that past Nobel peace award winners were what he refers to as “goodists.”

Who are the Goodists? They are the people who believe all conflict stems from avoidable misunderstanding. Who think that the world’s evils spring from technologies, systems, complexes (as in “military-industrial”) and everything else except from the hearts of men, where love abides. Who mistake wishes for possibilities. Who put a higher premium on their own moral intentions than on the efficacy of their actions. Who champion education as the solution, whatever the problem. Above all, the Goodists are the people who like to be seen to be good.

Goodists  include the likes of Jimmy Carter, and others whose names you won’t recognize.  Notables such as Winston Churchill, Ronald Reagan, Charles de Gaulle, General MacArthur, and Franklin Roosevelt were overlooked for the peace prize even though each one increased peace around the world;  freeing  Jews from the terror of Nazi-ism and concentration camps, tearing down the Iron Curtain, and  keeping the flame alive in France.

These were the soldiers and statesmen who did more than anyone else to assure the survival of freedom in the 20th century yet never won the love and admiration of the Scandanavian Nobel decision makers.

Looking at it from this perspective, it makes perfect sense that Barack Hussein Obama was awarded the peace prize based on apologetic rhetoric and good intentions.  I’m sure you’ve all heard of the southern cliche, “the road to hell is paved with good intentions.”

Our days have been very busy! The guys have been working hard on random construction projects and we, ladies, have been building relationships with the girls at the Neema Home. Yesterday, we had a special outing to work with a middle-aged married couple from Washington named Jeff & Carla Picicci. They began doing missions work in Kenya a few years ago and the Lord gave them a very clear, great vision to begin what is now called “Rehema Ministries” (rehemaministries.com). They have a home for abandoned babies/children. Last year when they began, they had around 30 kids and have doubled in one year….now housing 63 abandoned children and calling them their own. They desire to raise Godly, educated boys and girls into a people who will help to change their land and further the Kingdom.

As we drove over the very bumpy dirt roads (covered in potholes) to get to their property, the anticipation built! We arrived & greeted so many tiny faces. Some of them were scared of us (because we were strangers or maybe because we were white strangers!) – but most smiled happily and welcomed us as playmates. Carla gave us a tour of their *beautiful* property – telling us story after story of miracles for how God provided every need and necessary funding. They have 20 acres, much of it used for farming. They have a huge water system that was donated to them – which is connected to an underground river source which they surprisingly found upon digging. We walked around the house and different buildings…seeing the kitchens, the assembly line of high chairs and feeding tables for the kids, the countless cribs and pack-n-plays covered in mosquito nets, and the very loooong changing table with a mound of diapers on its end. We learned that they go through 220 diapers/day, they take their diapers to the Kitale landfill on Mondays, Wednesdays & Fridays. Only 5 of the 63 children are HIV positive but most have TB. There are 29 full-time staff, 3 shifts/day of nannies (“aunties”).

I walked around the property with the team listening to each incredible story of God’s goodness and ways that He has led them as my eyes were brimming with tears of joy and awe. We neared the children again to play for a bit before lunch. I walked over to a section where the babies were propped up in a row on a couple of long mattresses. I was immediately drawn to one boy, whose name I later found out was “Teddy”. Teddy was only 7 or 8 months old, I would guess, but I could tell right away that something was very wrong with him. I picked him up and saw that his gaze was distant and unfocused and he had poor control over his bodily and neck movement. I just held him, rocking him, praying and singing over him. I silently spoke life over him and clutched onto his tiny fingers as they grasped mine, only to look down and see that a few of them were webbed together. At that moment, Carla came over and sat down next to me on the floor while Teddy had just fallen asleep in my arms and she told me his backstory while tears just rolled down my face. His young, alcoholic mother had abandoned him and they think he has fetal alcohol syndrome.

Carla went on to tell me another story of a little girl who had falling asleep next to me on the floor. Her name was Sarah. Carla explained that Carla’s mother was a teenage girl who had prematurely given birth to her in a latrine, leaving her to die. Sarah had landed face up in the waste and cried and cried until one of their workers found and rescued her. Sarah is now a strong, healthy little girl. The thing that shocked me the most about hearing this story was that before this trip to Kenya was ever even planned up, I had a very vivid dream about this exact story of Sarah. I woke up from that dream a little less than a year ago, crying, praying & journaling , wondering what God was trying to tell me…little did I know that I would be sitting on the floor in a Kenyan home next to the very girl that I dreamt about. I just sat with Carla, weeping so hard, telling her about my dream…and praying over these children! I can’t imagine being a mom to countless children, remembering each of their stories (let alone names!) and trusting as God provides enough food and money to get by each day and month…being strong for kids with such unimaginably difficult lives…and teaching them about a God who is their faithful Father despite the abandonment of their earthly parents.

So, that was yesterday…and today we spent our last full day with our Neema sisters Today was a day of sharing testimonies and talking about baptisms because tomorrow me, Stephanie, & the Neema girls are all getting baptized. I joyfully shared my testimony and all that God has been teaching me over the last year as it’s been a time of great restoration and learning about the Father’s love. The coolest thing for me is that five years ago I was coming home from a missions trip to Romania and really felt strongly from the Lord that my next missions trip wouldn’t be for awhile, but eventually would be to Africa to work with orphans, and that I should get baptized there. So that’s all been floating in the back of my mind/heart for years…and, here I am, in Kenya, sharing my testimony with former street girls the day before we ALL get baptized together in a river outside of Kitale! How exciting!!!!

Alright – this has, once again, turned into a lengthy blog. I have seriously filled half of my journal since my arrival…it’s just hard to keep it short and simple when there are such great shifts happening within and around me! On a final note – Praise the Lord because no one here at the compound or from our team has been sick! However, we desperately need your prayers as we just found out today that little Martin (brother to the girl, Veronica, who just passed away from HIV/chicken pox) has been admitted into the hospital. He is very sick, having difficulty breathing, and has been diagnosed with meningitus & pneumonia (on top of the chicken pox and HIV). Please pray for God to do a miracle and fully heal Martin and to comfort the anxious hearts of those who love him.

We love you and miss you….thank you for battling for us as we are here serving and loving….we stand and move on your prayers! See you soon

What do we tell ourselves about our life here in America?  Is it a narrative of lack, always wanting more, never enough, and woe is me? I’m glad I’m an American and I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else in the world.  Develop some self talk about how blessed we are.

What arrogance these Americans have. Either that, or a very, very — no, stunningly – ignorant man was just elected president — largely because millions of benevolent voters believed that we owe black people a presidency. They may come to see that as their biggest mistake ever.  In the next couple of years they will see a tripling of government debt, high inflation, a permanent loss in their personal wealth, and a major devaluation of the dollar. James Lewis American Thinker

Our popstar President has recently apologized to Europe for our arrogance.  I for one believe in American Exceptionalism.  I believe our country is exceptional and no apology necessary Mr. President.  We provide more assistance, for foreign aid than any country on the face of the earth, yet our socialist President feels it necessary to apologize for American arrogance.  Where would the world be without the American innovation and willingness to fighit for freedom?