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"Rather, speaking the truth in love,  we are to grow up in every way  into Him who is the head, into Christ."   Ephesians 4:15 Sometimes friends can say words to us that sting.  This week in conversation, I experienced a needed inoculation of Truth.  The injection has driven me to acknowledgement of my sinful self and ultimately to repentance of a self-focused heart. This week, God used some words from a young volunteer serving in country to penetrate my heart and bring me back to the narrow path of following Christ at all cost. The volunteer, Kathy, was asking me some questions regarding our family, our future, etc...  "Where is God leading our family?  What do we think He is doing?  Etc..." Sitting in our car, I answered her honestly and directly.  God has been stirring within Reid and I both, but nothing is clear yet.  Nothing has changed about our current commitment, but we wonder what God is asking beyond our planned 2-years in...

Sometimes the words of others can express life beautifully.  Stella is the Feeding the Orphans volunteer serving on the northern edge of Ghana in Bolgatanga.  She is spending the next few weeks continuing to give her life away to 17 orphans.  Her post from today spoke to my heart and I think it will speak to yours too. www.stellaveal.wordpress.com  Our family has faced some struggles lately.  The Lord has been driving the TRUTH from the following verses home into my heart.  I think Stella is learning it too.  Lord, when we are weak, YOU are strong! But he said to me,  “My grace  is sufficient for you, for my power  is made perfect in weakness. ”  Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight  in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships,  in persecutions,  in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians ...

Franklin, at age 14, can tell the stories of Ghana with his pencil and his paintbrush. His heart is reflected in his art. Pencil drawing November 7, 2012 Returning Home "Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time." Thomas Merton Acrylic - November 9, 2012 Village Life "A picture is a poem without words." Horace Acrylics - Mid December 2012 Scenes of Ghana “Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.” -Pablo Picasso Pencil Drawing January 16, 2013 A young girl with the eyes of so many children here in Ghana... "The Eyes Tell the Story" "An artist is not paid for his labor, but for his vision."  James Whistler Whatever is good and perfect comes down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens.    He never changes or casts a shifting shadow. James 1:17

We have a new family update you may want to check out: and a Christmas video that our son, Weston (12 years old), recently completed:

Sometimes, people say, "Yes, I'll go.  Yes, I'll serve.  Yes, I'll love as if there is no tomorrow. Yes, I will GO.  Yes, Lord, Yes." One of the great benefits of serving here is that we meet others who have said one simple little word, "Yes" This week, we said goodbye to two incredible Feeding the Orphans volunteers who have been living in two separate orphanages in Teshie.  Seth Goggins and Rebekah Vanderford have relentlessly loved on the children here.  Their circumstances have not been easy.  The temperature here continues to climb hovering near 100, so sweat matted with dust covers the skin.  Bucket baths from carried water are a daily routine.  There is no such thing as a hot shower in the homes where these two have served.  Meals consisting of rice, rice and more rice keep them fed.  Illnesses of the children and exhaustion of their own bodies are battled continually.  Children climbing, tugging, and reaching for them fill ...

When we were moving to Ghana, my sister, Kelly, gave us all journaling books.  On the front of each she had written, “Ghana God Sightings.” Although I started off writing about our “God Sightings” here, our lives have become so full that it is difficult for me to find time to record all that God is doing.  Actually, I should restate this, it is hard for  us to make time to record all that God is doing. After writing the last blog entry, I hesitated posting it.  When I write openly and honestly about the internal struggle of living here versus the life we lived in America, there is usually varied response from readers.  Some say, “Right on, sister!”  Others disagree. Sometimes after posting, there might be a note of encouragement, other times, there might be a note of criticism.  I’m learning that if I am willing to blog, then I must be willing to become vulnerable.  So here  comes more vulnerability... If you haven’t read the last post, Can ...