What Grace Is About

   Grace, the definition is: "Unmerited, divine assistance given to humans for their...sanctification"

   Everyday in countless ways, God gives us some form of grace. Today, in the bustiling Gerald R. Ford airport, we recieved grace from God in the form of two extra bags. Thank you Lord!!

   Yet, another definition for grace is: "a charming or attractive trait or characteristic". How often do we give grace to recieve something in return? Isn't the point of grace that it is unmerited and does not require so-called "payback"?

   As humans, we often disregard one definition and find one we like. These two definitions are just two of ten definitions in the merriam-webster dictionary. How often do we as humans pick and choose the definition of our actions?

   I pray that all who read this will recognize grace as "unmerited divine assistance given to humans for their...sanctification" and not "a charming or attractive trait or characteristic". Always. Because that is NOT what grace is about!
  

One Week...

   Wow!! We leave in ONE WEEK. That is so crazy!!! Most of me is uber (sorry-still a teen(: ) excited to get there, and when people ask me if I'm nervous, or not ready to leave at all, I say no, I'm just REALLY ready.

   But really, that's not truth! I'm nervous, yeah! I'm not completely ready! I mean, HELLO! I'm leaving the only permanent home that I've ever known for two years and going somewhere I love, yes, but also don't know as well as I'd like to think I do.

   It's hard for me to say that, because I want it to be like I'm the calm, cool and collected one, but really, HA! Those three words aren't really in my internal dictionary at the moment...

   I've been packing up my room the last couple of days. Wow. That's hard. I'm sentimental--like EXTREMELY, so it's REALLY hard for me to let go of stuff. I kinda just like sit in the middle of my floor and cry. Ya know?

   And then I remember. My beloved Swaziland. Where kids are starving. People are sleeping on straw mats on dirt floors. Where my little Eme plays in a battered, torn, filthy dress. They're content. And then it's a little easier...

   This is a lot for me to put out for people to see, but that's ok. I want you guys to know I'm pouring out my heart here, and I WANT you to see that. I want you to see what's going on inside this heart of mine...

   Thanks for being there guys.
  

                I love you.

a gorgeous little baby at a carepoint, photo cred--Dan Luyk

Swaziland is...(a poem by me)

Need

Swaziland is...need.

The people NEED to be fed God's nourishing spiritual food.

They also need enough physical food each day,

and water,

and sometimes they don't have these things.



Grief

Swaziland is...grief.

Children raising children because their parents have died of AIDS.

Sexual sin among teens.

Infants dying of simple diseases because of a lack of adequate hospitals.

Hardship



Swaziland is...hardship.

Sometimes not having enough food for the day.

Or water.

Or working hard all day in the hot sun for little pay.

Yet, in the midst of all these things,

Swaziland is also...

Love

...Love.

Filled to the brim with love.

Radiating to those around them.

Children.

GoGos.

Men.

Women.





peace

...Peace.

In all circumstances.

Not wondering, or worrying about what will happen,

But in the midst of everything,

Peaceful.

Beauty

...Beauty.

The people.

The landscape.

All of it SCREAMS with

Absolute

&

Total

Beauty.

Hope

And most of all,

Swaziland is HOPE.

Dripping,

Sopping,

OVERFLOWING,

with hope.

For the future and for today.

Hopeful faces,

smiles,

and dreams

are everywhere in my beloved Swaziland.

Swaziland will always be my true home.

Where I can truthfully say,

"I am at peace with the world"

Surrounded by love,

Surrounded by peace,

Surrounded by beauty,

and

Surrounded by

HOPE!

SWAZILAND IS

HOPE.



Swaziland=Hope.....



hard...

  You know, it's hard to move to another country. It's hard to say goodbye to your friends, your family, the people you love. It's hard to leave what you know. It's hard to get used to a new culture. It's hard to look to God in the midst of so much need.

  Yeah, it's hard. But that is NOT what matters. It doesn't matter if I have a hard time stomaching pap and beans, if I get peed (or even pooped) on by some kid(:, if I'm barely surviving 110 degree heat.

  No. No, no, no. That's HARDLY what matters. All of that is minuscule when I think about the reward from a soul saved. Even just one. The joy that I feel when I see someone accept Christ for the first time. Or the smile on an old woman's face as she receives a bed after sleeping on a straw mat for so long.

  These things are so much more important than the difficulty of it all. I hope I recognize that. I hope I focus on the good things. The HAPPY things.

  It's okay if it's hard--it's ALL worth it....

an evident example of one of those rewards, a child's humble smile....

All of Creation...

  Right now I'm in The Great Smoky Mountains in Sevierville, Tenesee.

  I'm here to spend time with my extended family before we go to Swaziland.

  It's definitely a bittersweet experience. I love being here and seeing the absolute beauty of God's creativity around me. (and even climbing it (: )  But, it is also a very sad week, in that we must say goodbye to family and head off to adventures in Africa...

  I was recently listening to MercyMe's song, "All of Creation". It describes God's beautiful creation (of course) including His gorgeous nature (including the mountains we are surrounded by) and, of course, US. People!!!

  One of the lines in the song is "All of creation, sing with me now, lift up your voice and lay your burdens down." We have the duty, the priviledge to rejoice in God's absolute beauty!! We can stand on top of one of these towering mountains, spread our arms out wide, look up at the sky, and sing. Sing and praise the Lord.

  All of creation, join me in singing to our Lord. Praising him is what we were made to do!

  Of course, we should always remember this, but, these mountains, these gorgeous, towering, breathtaking mountains, give us a little bit more of a reminder.

  Thank you Lord, thank you for giving me the priviledge of being surrounded by these mountains to remind me that I need to praise you always....

I'm here!

  Well, I have a blog, finally. I've been putting it off for a long time!

  I think part of that is because of my horrible procrastination issues, but I think also I was a bit afraid to have a responsibility this big.

  You're probably asking, how is having a blog a responsibility? Well, when you take what's deep inside your heart, dig it out, put it into words and display it for all to see, you have a deep fear that someone or many someones are going to not accept it.

  I'm making this blog mostly because it will be an outlet for me to project my feelings that I have regarding this trip to Nsoko, Swaziland (see my profile here) My mom, Jenifer Peterson (follow hyperlink to her blog) also blogs, and it is a great way for her to pour out her heart about what she's feeling.

  My hopes for this blog is that the people who read it will be moved by what I have to say about this amazing country. Blessings to all who read!

(blogs for now will be about things happening pre-Swazi, we leave in 17 days [April 19th] but before that it will be my feelings about going back {we were there from Sept.-Dec. and are going back for two years})