Spiritual

Last fall, Malawi, Aftica faced a terrible drought causing country wide famine. I wrote a post introducing you all to Gogo Grandmothers….the incredible ministry where I have the privilege to serve. We developed a fundraising project last year called the Joseph Project to help the Gogo and their children through the famine. So many of you were willing to help make a difference and we are so grateful for your generosity.

It’s a Fact . . .

Due to continued drought, the harvest was terrible in Malawi again this year! Our USA director reported last week, “Most Malawians rely on subsistence farming (eating only what they can grow), but the food supply situation is always precarious. 2016 is the second year in a row that they have had a poor harvest because of severe drought, and many areas are already running out of food to sustain their families.”

Malawi News . . .
The “Famine Early Warning System” shows the food crisis beginning in Malawi.

Near Term: Jun. – Sept. 2016 Medium Term: Oct. 2016 – Jan. 2017
Maps show the orange areas that are in a food crisis in Malawi. 3/4 of the gogos and children we work with are in these emergency areas.

Once again we are asking you to get involved, to do something that will make a significant difference in the poorest country in the world!!!

The 2016-2017 Joseph Project

We have miraculously found a source for maize to buy and store for our gogos and the children!

$10.00 will provide 60 pounds of maize to a gogo and the children in her care for a month. Could you and your family help meet this need for a gogo family until her next harvest in April or May 2017.

Over 2,000 gogos and thousands of children …

I have had the privilege of being on the Board of the Gogo Grandmothers/SAFE ministry in Malawi, Africa for the past year. It has been one of the most rewarding organizations I have been involved in my whole life because it allows me to serve the poor and needy, work with fabulous people in ministry and be a prayer warrior for people from the “warm heart of Africa”. I wrote a comprehensive post months ago with beautiful pictures that show the faces of our Gogos. Click here to read that article. You can follow what we are doing on our Facebook page.

The gogos (grandparents) in Malawi that Gogo Grandmothers in America sponsor are subsistence farmers — they must grow what they eat for the entire year in one growing season. Their main crop and food each day is maize (corn) that is dried, mixed with water and made into a bland patty called “nsima” (meaning the thing that fills the stomach).

A cyclone in January 2016 washed away some of their garden plots while others were ruined by the drought that followed. The harvests in some areas were 75% less than normal. Hunger tapped at their doors in the following months until their next harvest which was in May 2016. Orphans and children in the Gogos’ care and whole village communities were severely impacted by this lack of maize.

We initiated a campaign we called “The Joseph Project”! It is a Biblical reference to the time when God used Joseph in Egypt to store grain for the famine that was coming. Our staff worked with village leaders to assess those most in need in our sponsored communities. We bought bags of maize in Malawi to store, so that when the hunger became the most severe, we would have enough …

Wondering how I would fit writing a blog post into this already very BUSY day…..I quickly glanced at my Facebook to see if a friend’s granddaughter had been born yet and saw on her wall this incredibly inspiring quote from one of my favorite authors…….Jennie Allen.

Here are Jennie’s words that prompted this beautiful artwork that she posted. “I hear from so many of you that you wish you had deeper relationships or more encouragement in your life or people who made you love Jesus more. Guess what team– we are it! We need to be the good friends, the mentors, the dream releasers, the cheerleaders! (Thanks @embersherman for the art.) Who has been that for you? Now it’s your turn. Ask someone to coffee and go be the person you wish was sitting across from you.”

Today I had the privilege of attending two events with incredible women. The first was a summer bible study with about 20 women in my community that want to share time together and grow in their walk of faith. Some of these women are long time friends and some of them are new friends. All of these gals are women I would trust with my heart, women who are wise and would be willing to listen to my story and be a faithful and true kind of friend. The second event was a gathering of friends who have known each other for over 20 years. We have celebrated major life events together-having babies, raising children, attending graduations, planning weddings and welcoming grand babies. We have cried together and felt compassion for one another during times of stress, loss and hard life circumstances. We have walked together through conflict and sorrow. We have protected one another, served together, worked on projects together and …

Joy, contentment and happiness are three words that get all mixed up in our culture today. In a book I am reading, written by Shelia Wray Gregoire she defines the three words…… “Joy is an emotion that looks upward, contentment is an emotion that looks inward and happiness is an emotion that looks outward. Joy says, ‘How great is our God!’ Contentment says, ‘It is well with my soul.’ And happiness says ‘What a wonderful _______________I have!’ (You fill in the blank…….life, job, husband, wife, friend-something tangible and outside of oneself.) C.S. Lewis writes “Joy is like experiencing a flash of heaven, almost a ‘stab’ where the clouds are rolled back for a split second and your heart expands and you feel God. It’s momentous, and it’s big. Happiness, on the other hand, is small and rooted in circumstances here on earth.” The apostle Paul writes about contentment in the book of Philippians, “I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through Him who gives me strength.” Phil. 4:11-13

Joy and contentment are my goals in my life and in my relationships with others. Happiness is dependent on my outward circumstances and is influenced by how I react or respond to the ever changing situations or people around me. If I focus on my happiness and if my purpose is to ensure that my emotional well being is paramount, I will stay true to my feelings but I won’t be true …

This weekend I will be participating in Global Give Back Day for our amazing nutrition company. It is such a blessing to be a part of a movement of people that are outward focused – Helping people get physical and financial health as well as stressing the importance of GIVING BACK.

I have organized a group of friends and their kids to make personal care bags for children that live at a local shelter. We are going to each donate an item for the bags and on Saturday we will pack the bags and color pictures for the kids.

I want to make a life of service a habit, and a norm in our family. I want my kids to know the impact that kindness has on the lives of others. I want them to know the joy of putting a smile on someone else’s face and to know how blessed they are to have everything the needs when some don’t have anything at all.

How do you incorporate acts of service in your family life? 

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Mother’s Day is this Sunday….I love being a mom, it is my passion. I am beyond blessed to have been given the opportunity to live out my passion, but my heart goes out to the moms of this generation who are flooded with the messages in our culture that in order to be a fantastic mom, you need to be a SUPERMOM. Bekah sent me this article a few days ago and we want to share it with you. I love Family Life Today and support their ministry. This article is called 8 Ways to be a Super Mom (Not Supermom). This is a must read….it will encourage you in every aspect of motherhood.

Motherhood-Supermom has super powers.

She is able not only to keep her home immaculate; she bakes and cooks from scratch all of the meals she sets before her family on the handcrafted table she whipped up over the weekend after seeing a DIY project on her Pinterest board. Supermom is also a fantastic manager. She runs a tight ship. The home’s schedule runs like clockwork, and she makes certain her children are not tardy to anything. This woman could not only run a small country, she could probably do it in her sleep. She is also a super wife. Although sometimes Supermom is super tired, she must put her fatigue on the back burner in order to be emotionally and physically available for her hubby.

Now I am certainly not trying to beat anyone up for this little phenomenon. We women are strong. Capable. Clever. Competent. Resourceful. But sometimes these strengths can transform into weakness because we don’t take into account one little thing that we women also have: Limitations.

If we don’t realize our limitations, we can soon find ourselves physically incapable of carrying …