My new passport came yesterday. The old passport had my maiden name on it and expired this year anyway, so it was definitely time for renewal. How exciting! My last passport was for our honeymoon to Banff, Canada 10 years ago. 10 years! My how things have changed. I never thought I would need a passport for mission trips, though I always hoped to be healthy enough one day to take that journey. I can remember sitting in KBrew exactly a year ago this week with my sweet friends talking about missions. My friend Carrie said, "Think you'll go one day?" I said I would love to but just didn't know. One year later I'm working on my Spanish, buying comfortable skirts, reading, praying and prepping for Nicaragua. All in His timing for sure.
Of course, the same weekend I get my passport, I also have a full blown Charlotte Taylor Bishop allergic reaction that sends my body into orbit. The enemy just loves to throw doubt in there and highlight my vulnerabilities. I yelled at him today. Sitting on my couch, no one else home, Prednisone induced screaming at the one who wants to rob me of my chance to step out in faith, love on others, and share God with people. I felt like that scene in Home Alone (the first movie and only good one!) when Kevin runs to the front yard and screams, "I'M NOT AFRAID ANYMORE!! YOU HEAR ME?!" I got downright angry. And just like that, my mom's favorite verse, 2 Corinthians 12:9 "...for my strength is made perfect in weakness" came to mind and I knew He was once again going to fight for me and cover me with His grace and strength. I'm not in this battle alone. He is so much stronger than any physical battle that comes my way. He has big plans for this scrawny girl.
Sunday, April 9, 2017
Sunday, March 19, 2017
Labels.
Zantac, Zyrtec, Singular, Cartia, Xolair, Albuterol, Patanase, Bentyl, Hyoscyamine... just labels
HIDA scan, CT scan, ultrasound, MRI, endoscopy, stool sample (seriously?!), pulmonary function test, DEXA scan, blood gas, biopsy, peak flow meter, autoimmune protocol, mast cell... just labels
Healer, Savior, Father, Sustainer, Creator, King, Provider, Comforter, Protector, Life Teacher, Mountain Mover, Ocean Calmer, Fear Smasher, Promise Keeper, Boundary Crosser, Purpose Giver, Journey Maker... these are the labels that truly matter. Nothing is impossible for Him.
Francis Chan says, "It's weird how uncertainty can actually bring peace while ease causes the opposite." The complete uncertainty of how this whole thing is going to work out doesn't scare me or make me want to run in the other direction. It makes me want to run forward, all in, to see how He leads me each day. It is total surrender that is going to make this work.
I put together everything to mail off and renew my Passport today. To boldly go where no asthmatic, gluten free, allergy queen should ever go... or so they say.
HIDA scan, CT scan, ultrasound, MRI, endoscopy, stool sample (seriously?!), pulmonary function test, DEXA scan, blood gas, biopsy, peak flow meter, autoimmune protocol, mast cell... just labels
Healer, Savior, Father, Sustainer, Creator, King, Provider, Comforter, Protector, Life Teacher, Mountain Mover, Ocean Calmer, Fear Smasher, Promise Keeper, Boundary Crosser, Purpose Giver, Journey Maker... these are the labels that truly matter. Nothing is impossible for Him.
Francis Chan says, "It's weird how uncertainty can actually bring peace while ease causes the opposite." The complete uncertainty of how this whole thing is going to work out doesn't scare me or make me want to run in the other direction. It makes me want to run forward, all in, to see how He leads me each day. It is total surrender that is going to make this work.
I put together everything to mail off and renew my Passport today. To boldly go where no asthmatic, gluten free, allergy queen should ever go... or so they say.
Saturday, March 18, 2017
The Beginning of Going
Nicaragua. While I wait for God to reveal His plan for my involvement in Kenya, Eric and I bought tickets to Matagalpa, Nicaragua for July. This is the perfect opportunity for me to do an international mission trip for the first time. This trip is one week including travel, as opposed to 14-16 days required for Kenya. I am really excited about going, but I also feel the weight of this decision. This is the first time I have handed my health issues over to the Lord fully trusting that He will see me through this experience in a foreign land.
My health has been the ONE thing that has held me back since birth. Whether it be asthma, allergies, bone density, chronic hives, and now digestive issues, my health has always dictated where I go and what my involvement with life is. I can't live that way. God does not say, "Follow me if you are 100% healthy." He simply says "Follow me." I have to believe the one I follow will never forsake me. The God who knows the number of hairs in my head also knows the sickness inside and the limitations this body can take. The God who healed me on July 9, 1989, will see it through. Healing doesn't stop on the pages of the Bible. He is still Jehovah Rapha and has not quit doing a good work in me. I am taking all the illness and all the anxiety that goes with it to His feet and laying it down. I will be stepping out of that plane in faith.
My health has been the ONE thing that has held me back since birth. Whether it be asthma, allergies, bone density, chronic hives, and now digestive issues, my health has always dictated where I go and what my involvement with life is. I can't live that way. God does not say, "Follow me if you are 100% healthy." He simply says "Follow me." I have to believe the one I follow will never forsake me. The God who knows the number of hairs in my head also knows the sickness inside and the limitations this body can take. The God who healed me on July 9, 1989, will see it through. Healing doesn't stop on the pages of the Bible. He is still Jehovah Rapha and has not quit doing a good work in me. I am taking all the illness and all the anxiety that goes with it to His feet and laying it down. I will be stepping out of that plane in faith.
Thursday, March 16, 2017
Displaced Love
Ummm...yeah. So obviously life happens fast after you have that tiny bundle of love. I have jumped from Aiden being 6 months old to almost celebrating his 6th birthday in May. Whoops! Haha! To try and catch up on this blog would be quite ridiculous and honestly no one wants to read that much about the crazy life of Charlotte. This blog has now taken on a whole new purpose for me anyway. (Not that I don't love posting all the crazy antics and pictures of my child! He is a HOOT!)
I titled this blog "Displaced Love" because that is exactly what I feel. A love that doesn't know it's place and purpose yet. It all started in November when my Reckon group (small group of ladies I do life and Bible study with) met to discuss a lesson on service. The lesson was so powerful and full of raw, emotional stories of women from my church who felt the call for international missions. The night of our Reckon meeting, I wascompletely knocked off kilter overwhelmed by this burden, heart pull, love for the people of Kenya. Up until that moment, Kenya had always been Eric's thing. He had taken a trip to Kenya two years prior to construct churches for the Masai people of Narok. He was also preparing to leave for Kenya again in February (just last month). Kenya was his missionary ground. Not mine. However, there was this unexplained love that completely washed over me for a country I've never been to and a people group that I've never met.
The entire time Eric was in Kenya this past month, I did not wish for him to be home. I longed to be there with him-- in the tin roofed school with the smiling, bright eyed children. Every picture and video multiplied that feeling every day. What do you do with a love like that? Where does it lead? Why is it there to start with? These are all the questions I ask myself when I wake up thinking of Kenya and go to bed thinking of Kenya. When Eric came back, he brought with him the name and picture of a precious Masai child named Musa that we have the honor of sponsoring through Compassion International. Maybe this love is for him now that we are literally invested in Kenya. If God has placed Kenya on my heart for the sole purpose of us praying daily for sweet Musa and his community, then so be it. It is well with my soul. For some strange reason though, I feel like it is bigger than that. I have heard of displaced anger. But is there such as thing as displaced love?
I titled this blog "Displaced Love" because that is exactly what I feel. A love that doesn't know it's place and purpose yet. It all started in November when my Reckon group (small group of ladies I do life and Bible study with) met to discuss a lesson on service. The lesson was so powerful and full of raw, emotional stories of women from my church who felt the call for international missions. The night of our Reckon meeting, I was
The entire time Eric was in Kenya this past month, I did not wish for him to be home. I longed to be there with him-- in the tin roofed school with the smiling, bright eyed children. Every picture and video multiplied that feeling every day. What do you do with a love like that? Where does it lead? Why is it there to start with? These are all the questions I ask myself when I wake up thinking of Kenya and go to bed thinking of Kenya. When Eric came back, he brought with him the name and picture of a precious Masai child named Musa that we have the honor of sponsoring through Compassion International. Maybe this love is for him now that we are literally invested in Kenya. If God has placed Kenya on my heart for the sole purpose of us praying daily for sweet Musa and his community, then so be it. It is well with my soul. For some strange reason though, I feel like it is bigger than that. I have heard of displaced anger. But is there such as thing as displaced love?
Sunday, June 12, 2011
6 weeks old
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Welcome to the World
Aiden was born on Tuesday, May 3rd at 1:41 p.m. He weighed 7 pounds/3 ounces and is 18 1/2 inches long. He is the best baby! We couldn't be happier. When we look at him we are just amazed that God gave us such a precious gift. ♥
Friday, April 22, 2011
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