Hunting "reindeer"

When discussing over dinner tonight how Daddy was away hunting, Steven says, "if Daddy shoots a reindeer I will be sooo mad."

"You only need to call them deer, Steve,"says Marvelly.
"Why?" Steven asks.
"Becauuuuuse, reindeer are from the rainforest." Marvelly quips back.

Remembering Mike.

For over ten years Mike built and sold custom power boats in South Florida. Every time we got together he always had the coolest stories he'd share with us about his adventures on the water, always in a boat, with his clients. Mike knew boats. Mike's life was boats.

Until God called him to walk away from it all.

So, he pulled his boat up on the shore, left everything...and followed Him. Just like in Luke 5. Just like Peter, James and John. Just like Jesus' disciples before him, Mike left everything behind for the sake of the LORD.

He sold all his possessions. He left behind his career, his home, his family and friends, his everything. Walked away from it all and followed the Lord's calling on his life to Burkina Faso.

And it was there that Mike and Amy found their greatest purpose.

And it was there, in this little West African nation, that the LORD would set our lives on a crash collision and establish a beautiful friendship with two of the greatest people I have ever had the privilege of knowing and doing life with.

(April 2015- our last time with Mike and Amy right before we moved back to the U.S.) 

We actually "met" Mike and Amy before we even moved to Burkina. A few months before our departure, my dear friend Kelly sent me an email saying that some missionaries from Burkina Faso were speaking at her parents church in S. FL, which she too was visiting while in town during one of Drew's deployments. In true good friend fashion, she stalked them after the service and got their contact info to pass along to me.

I wasted no time in contacting Amy! I was so excited at the prospect of connecting with someone living in Burkina! We emailed back and forth for a couple months prior to us leaving, and she shipped us some tubs filled with orphanage supplies that we offered to check as baggage and bring over for them.

So, about four days after we landed in Burkina, Mike and Amy showed up at our gate! And the rest is history. From that point on they grew to be some of our dearest friends in Burkina.

Mike and Isaak standing with a French hunter watching his freshly killed water buffalo get gutted...they were enthralled.

 Walking through the Yako market, Marvelly is tucked in behind....

 Mike and Amy helping to cheer Steven on at his 6th birthday as her tries to demolish that pinata.

 And Mike, a fellow photo enthusiast, like myself. He always always always had a camera with him. He took our family picture that hangs in my living room today.

 

A tragic event in Burkina Faso this weekend

On Friday masked terrorists opened fire in our beloved Ouagadougou, sending bullets flying into Cappuccino restaurant and setting off car bombs outside, before retreating into the Splendid Hotel across the street where they continued to kill and destroy all that stood in their path.

All through the night and early morning hours, a war was being waged against the terrorists and Burkinabé security forces, along with French and American military support.

Finally, as the hot Burkina sun made it's way over the sky...the siege ended, the terrorists drew their final breaths, dying among the carnage that they caused.

In all, thirty people died that night at the hands of these wicked people.

In Job 24:13-24 it says,

"There are those who rebel against the light, 

who do not know its ways or stay in its paths. 

When daylight is gone, the murderer rises up and kills the poor and needy,

 in the night he steals forth like a thief. 

The eye of the adulterer watches for dusk, 

he thinks, "No eye will see me," and he keeps his face concealed. 

In the dark, men break into houses, but by day they shut themselves in, 

they want nothing to do with the light. 

For all of them, deep darkness is their morning,

 they make friends with the terrors of darkness.

 Yet they are foam on the surface of the water, 

their portion of the land is cursed, 

so that no one goes to the vineyards. 

As heat and drought snatch away the melted snow, 

so the grave snatches away those who have sinned. 

The womb feasts on them, 

evil men are no longer remembered but are broken like a tree. 

They prey on the barren and childless women,

 and to the widow show no kindness. 

But God drags away the mighty by his power; 

though they become established they have no assurance of life. 

He may let them rest in a feeling of security, but his eyes are on their ways. 

For a little while they are exalted, and then they are gone; 

they are brought low and gathered up like all others; they are cut off like heads of grain. 

There is NO future, there is NO prosperity, there is NO hope, there is NO peace for men who delight in evil and shun the LORD Almighty.

Cowardice men and women who delight in evil and engage in hate filled conduct will be wiped away from the face of the earth. They have no assurance of Life. They will not be remembered and the Lord will take away their power.

There is a war waging. A mighty battle taking place against good and evil. Light and darkness. Both physically and spiritually. Though it appears that evil and the powers of darkness are advancing, and robbing the righteous of their future and leaving a trail of destruction and depravity...they will not be victorious.

The Lord will take up the cause of the righteous. He will usher in justice like a mighty wave and wipe away those who stand against Him.

Proverbs 14:11 says, "The house of the wicked will be destroyed, but the tent of the upright will flourish."

As followers of Jesus Christ we are not called to revenge. For the Bible says, "If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat, if he is thirsty give him water to drink, for you will heap burning coals on his head and the LORD will reward you." The LORD says that vengeance and retribution are HIS. We are called to imitate Christ. We are called to pray for our enemies. We are called to spread love, pursue peace, show kindness, defend the poor and vulnerable among us, protect, hope and rejoice in truth, be patient, and sacrificially serve, even our enemies (!) in the name of Jesus. By doing so, the world will know that we have the love of Jesus in our hearts.

In this attack carried out on Friday night, the forces of evil succeeded in killing many believers of Jesus....one of whom was our dearly beloved Mike. But what these terrorists don't know is that though these believers are no longer with us here on earth...they are rejoicing in heaven eternally with our LORD. Great is their reward!

May fear and trepidation plague the hearts of men who delight in pursuing malicious ways.
May God in His good and perfect timing bring them low and deliver justice.

"But the LORD is with me like a mighty warrior; so my persecutors will stumble and not prevail. They will fail and be thoroughly disgraced; their dishonor will never be forgotten."-Jer. 20:11

I want my children to know that those who dwell in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. That they need not fear the terror of the night nor the arrow that flies by day. We are not promised a trouble free and easy life and we do not know the length of our days on earth...but great is our reward in Heaven when He calls us home. Until we meet our Creator face to face, we are to live a life that brings Him glory. We are to serve and love those he's placed in our life and not be afraid to run to dark places and carry His Light and shine it brightly so that others may come to know Him too, even those who would persecute us. Love conquers hate. Light vanquishes dark. This little light of mine, I'm going to let it shine. Let it shine so bright that the darkness runs and hides. Let it shine so bright that the darkness can not overcome it and that the love and power of Jesus stops the devil in his tracks!

May we live boldly. Confidently. Not cowering away in the presence of evil but standing firm in the promise that HE is with us! 

Evil will not prevail, nor will it overcome His mighty plan and purpose. For Joseph said, "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives."

Amen. What the forces of darkness intend to hurt us, destroy us, defeat us, isolate us....God will turn around and use for good. For His glory and benefit. He will accomplish His purpose and work out ALL things for the good of those who love him. 

Savor-day 3

"Bittersweet is the idea that in all things there is both something broken and something beautiful, that there is a sliver of lightness on even the darkest of nights, a shadow of hope in every heartbreak, and that rejoicing is no less rich when it contains a splinter of sadness.

Bittersweet is the practice of believing that we really do need both the bitter and the sweet, and that a life of nothing but sweetness rots both your teeth and your soul. Bitter is what makes us strong, what forces us to push through, what helps us earn the lines on our faces and the calluses on our hands. Sweet is nice enough, but bittersweet is beautiful, nuanced, full of depth and complexity. Bittersweet is courageous, gutsy, earthy.

So this is the work I'm doing now, and the work I invite you into: when life is sweet, say thank you and celebrate. And when life is bitter, say thank you and grow."

-Shauna Niequist