That Thing I Do Now - Vol 22

So I knew... even on Monday - that it would be hard to read All. The. Things. this week and let me tell ya - (even on Monday!) - I knew that there would be all KINDS of Awesome to share here!

Less talk - and more hooking you up, I know - I know!
Happy Reading!

* This one by Jennifer Peterson on why she is not doing traditions this year!

* This post over at Incourage by the ever real and encouraging Holley Gerth on those unmerry moments of the holidays!

* This piece by Kristin Jones over at Relevant Magazine on Reclaiming the Art of Meaningful Conversation... so good!

* This one by Shelly Miller over at The High Calling on a longing for the message of a meal to be worship... Yes. This!

* This by Kayla Aimee over at Mothers of daughters about Light and Life (with a free printable!)

* This little piece of Awesome by Lori Harris on an interrupted writing session that (shocker!) makes me want to go to Starbucks!

* This post of personal words spoken at a vow renewal that will simply undo you a bit... and stir you up to want to be like this!  This, by Erika Morrison.

* This post by Crystal Stine about Christmas and no- it is not a bossy list of things you 'should' be doing... it's so much better than that!

* This post over at International Justice Mission is really an invitation to share Hope with Collins - an innocent father in prison in Kenya.

* The post right here from Abiding Love, Abounding Grace where I slyly trick you into thinking it's a blog post - but clearly I am cheating and this is our family Christmas letter!

Lastly... our weekly little video highlight because, you know, that's how we do it... I'm not sure if anyone missed this video this week - but just in case, it's worth the watch!

What did I miss? Did you find anything Amazing online this week that I didn't list here? Link it in the comments and share the love!  

Also - just for fun - here is a free quick (at the most maybe 5 minutes?) personality test:
iPersonic Test

I am a "Sensitive Doer"... what are you?

The one In which we remember that Miracles happen...

(Otherwise known as The Aggett Christmas Letter Post for 2013!)

Can you feel it?  That tugging that starts down deep...  In a world spinning fast, all dizzy and blurred, I love that pull that is nearly tangible to slow it down, to stop, to breathe in deep this cold winter air. It fights within us... the drive to keep up, and the need to slow down!  There is a hunger and thirst for more than just some peace and quiet, but for Peace on Earth and a little Silent Night!

Can you feel it too?  It can go unnoticed, nearly ignored all together - we can rush right by it... push it back down and keep running around, crossing things off our bossy lists... but oh how I pray that we don't do that! No - let's not dismiss it... instead of pushing through, let's lean in!

Let's agree together that what this weary world needs most is a Holy Night, is a Falling on our knees, is a little rejoicing!  I'm learning honestly for the first time about Advent and the glory of waiting... of expecting Him to come!

I heard Liz Curtis Higgs speak it earlier this month - how Mary departed after encountering the angel, heading for Elizabeth's and how maybe, just maybe, it was Elizabeths' greeting that revealed to Mary that she was pregnant.  She may have not even known when the Spirit overshadowed her and that got me to thinking:

Miracles often happen when we are unaware!

Advent means "Coming" and while many still wait - we know that He has come... He is coming and He is here and no matter where you are or what you are needing, He comes for you.

For the 2nd year in a row, I participated in OneWord365 - my word this year is "Surprise!"

Surprise has showed up for us in some amazing ways... blessings, winning numerous giveaways, provisions and favor... it's also showed up in some hard ways: health issues with family, being faced with old fears and insecurities that I thought were conquered, and a few disappointments... but probably the most surprising "Surprise" is what God is doing inside... this shifting and awakening and I know that work will continue even as 2014 arrives and a new word is brought to light.  Through the 'good' and the 'bad' - miracles have happened while we were unaware... blessings multiplied the more we tried to count them and write them down one by one...

Now ya'll know I love me a Bossy List and a Full Calendar - so here comes our Year in Review:

In January, we were all FAFSA, all the time. OK - not really! But it was back to school and back to the craziness of Kayelyn's senior year.  I took a great photography class that helped me to decide to keep doing photography on the side, as a hobby.  In February, I hosted a fun Valentine's Pinterest party, did a bit of guest posting around the web, Dave continued to volunteer at The Seasons and be pretty much incredible, and we pressed in and hosted a few prophetic painting parties too! March came in with a few Surprises...Kayelyn competed once again with DECA at State in Bellevue and was honored to be named a Washington State DECA Member of the Year! It was a huge surprise and a great recognition of all her hard work and leadership as President.  I was honored and surprised to be invited to teach a class on prophetic art at the 1st Pres Women's conference.

In April, we spent Spring Break in Redding, CA.  We took one of Kaye's friends with us and we all 4 had a great time!  Bethel on Easter Sunday! Enough said! 

We had a houseful of family when we returned and we always love that!  I hosted (in)RL at home, an online live streaming conference for women! Then - in wrapping up her 'career' in DECA, Kayelyn and 7 of her local members made it to Nationals this year in Anaheim, CA.  So our girlie flew out and had a week to compete and take in Disneyland and Universal Studios.  She had a blast!  In May our nearly grown Girlie turned all Grown Up and 18!  Amazing how quickly that flew by! She had her Senior Prom and I was blessed to be able to photograph her and her friends! They all had a great time!

June - oh June!  Graduation week was all kinds of crazy... filled with happy and sad tears the whole way through!  We had several events: 3 Graduation ceremonies, a DECA Banquet, The Rammy Awards, parties and celebrations for graduating friends and for our own graduate.  We were blessed with many friends and family coming to celebrate Kayelyn.  And as much as I love to take pictures, the BEST gift to me was Robert, my brother, taking great pictures during Kayelyn's graduation so I could relax and be fully present through the whole thing!  

Beyond Graduation week, life slowly went on... more portrait sessions, more family (the Aggett Reunion!) and thankfully, more rest and a little bit of summer!  July and August included more annual traditions like the Worldcast conference, Jazz in the Valley with friends, and Dave's annual Fishing trip to Whidbey Island (in which we tagged along this year!) and our girlies first ever self planned vacation with a friend. (They went to the Oregon Coast... we raised them well!)

In September, once again - our whole household was back to school! Kayelyn decided to stay home and attend YVCC and Dave and I (and Lorraine) are all back at Soar (a sattelite school of BSSM)  Dave and I took a few shifts in Soars' "Deep Fried Prayer Booth" at the fair, offering prayer and encouragement to all who came by.  That was super fun!

Then came the Blessing and Craziness of October!  Once again, I participated in the blogger challenge of #31days - writing for 31 days on one topic! This year I wrote #31Days of Encountering God.  We had a local Soar Retreat where Dave led worship and I was able to paint... it's been great to reconnect and be a part of this amazing community again! We took a year off last year to focus on Kaye's Senior year! We wanted to do that - and are glad we did - but, as I said - it's so nice to be back!  Toward the end of the month, Dave and I flew to South Carolina and we fell in love! (Ya'll... South Carolina in late October is PERFECTION!)  I attended Allume - an amazing Bloggers conference in Greenville - and we added a few days and wandered The Biltmore Estates, walked the streets and alleyways of Asheville, strolled the grounds of the Magnolia Gardens and Plantation, and dug our toes in the sand and warm Atlantic waters of the Isle of Palms.  We LOVED Charleston and Battery Park and King Street and the lovely Resort and Marina.  It was a relaxing and romantic vacation and it confirmed yet again how I am out-of-this-world, beyond-crazy-blessed to have this man of mine!

   

 

We flew back and I stayed a few extra days in Tacoma with my friend Rebekah to attend the Women of Faith conference... it was so good! Me - not a huge conference goer - but this year that has been different!  After being gone from home, my bed, and my girlie for eleven days - it was so wonderful to be back! I was thrilled to have no where to go for at least a week... catching up on sleep and hugs and processing All. The. (Conference.) Things.  In November, I decided to try to reignite the spark in our local SparkPeople team (ya see what I did there?) and scheduled weekly walks.  I am getting myself back on track in living a healthier lifestyle after slacking off a bit this year!  Kayelyn and I hosted our 2nd annual WAR Chest Jewelry Party and we raised just over $1100 for Women At Risk.  Human and Sex Trafficking is something that we are both passionate about and helping to make a difference and bring awareness is our motivation for continuing on with this event!  In fact, this Fall through the month of December, I've partnered up with a great community of bloggers helping to raise money for the Mercy House in Kenya... To see God show up BIG, again and again and again has been such a joy!  We - along with many of you - stepped up and partnered with the (in)Mercy Project and were able to help purchase a van, build a classroom, buy a back up generator, buy computers, etc for their school, and - incredibly - in about two days - we raised enough money to buy a second home - all for our sisters in Africa!  You can read more about The Mercy House ministry HERE.

This brings us to December and Christmas and as I said - Advent! - and His Coming!

I know for me - looking through our year - I can see miracles happened - both big and small - often when we were unaware! 

We are praying miracles happen for you too, and as you celebrate His coming, you will find that He is always ALWAYS worth the wait, and that He is just waiting to show up for you!



Believing for miracles,
With Love,
The Aggetts
2013

In which Jesus is Famous - but He's no Rockstar

My Honey and I are happy to be students again at Soar - a school for spiritual transformation.  After taking a year off, it's nice to be back in Community and pressing in to more of God together! Among other kinds of homework, one of the things that we are assigned to read is Scripture.  (I know, right? Just kidding - it's a great thing!) So we are all reading the same portions of Scripture but this year - it is not large sections at a time... but smaller chunks to really meditate on and spend time in... rolling the words over in our mouths, tasting and seeing... and recently - it was yet another very familiar portion of the Bible that caused me to catch my breath and ponder my everyday life and how I want to make Jesus famous... but stay true to His non-Rockstar tendencies; how the same Spirit that came upon Him, resides within me and oh my Lord I want to remember this in my everyday ways!

The verses are found in Luke, chapter 4... with Jesus going to the synagogue.  (vs 14-22)

"And Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about Him spread through all the surrounding district. And He began teaching in their synagogues and was praised by all.

And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read.  And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the book and found the place where it was written,

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,

Because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor.

He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives,

And recovery of sight to the blind,

To set free those who are oppressed,

To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.”

And He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him. And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” And all were speaking well of Him, and wondering at the gracious words which were falling from His lips; and they were saying, “Is this not Joseph’s son?”

Luke 4:14-22 NASB              

The first thing that really stood out to me is the 'as was His custom' in verse 16.  It was the 'norm' for Him to go to church on the Sabbath.  He didn't necessarily cause a stir or gather a crowd with His arrival there.  He was no Rockstar Jesus in Nazareth.  Jesus was and is truly 'All That' and yet He does not act like one who demands to be worshipped... because, while that is what He desires your choice to be... He will never force it! He comes in... He does what the Father tells Him to do... He proclaims, He heals, He preaches, He fulfills prophecy... and He does it all because He is anointed... because He is love!

So He shows up and stands up and is handed the scroll.  Do we really think it was a coincidence that THAT Scroll was the one that was being read, on THAT day... that they just so happened to be reading in Isaiah and left off just before these verses? He knew... oh, it was no coincidence for Him. He knew He would be fulfilling it before He unrolled it!

He didn't finish reading the whole prophesy... He highlighted the part that was fulfilled - the things that He was doing then and there.  So if He came and did those things already - if He came and preached to the poor and proclaimed release to the captives and brought healing and freedom to the oppressed - if this is the favorable year of the LORD right here and now, do I live like this is true?  

Do I talk like it? Do I expect it to be true and really believe it?  Or am I like those in verse 22 - speaking well of Him and amazed by His words, but allowing doubt or familiarity with Christ or Christianity to water down the truth and lessen our anticipation?  I don't know about you - but I want some of that childlike faith... some of that Christmas-time excitement to rise up again! I want to remember that I believe in miracles!

The second thing that impacted me while slowly savoring this?  It's the "Because" that captured me most:

"The Spirit of the LORD is upon me because He has anointed me... (to preach the gospel, to proclaim liberty...)

The Spirit of the LORD has a purpose for showing up "upon" someone and the Good News is not only does He still come UPON us, but now that Jesus has gone to His Father, the Spirit also resides within us...

 ...and I bet His purpose is still the same!

May He show up and stand up and speak through you today!  May His Spirit that resides within you, come upon you and anoint you... may you be able to proclaim that this is God's year to act! This year... this day... it's not too late! 

This is Advent and He is coming... He is here!



I am linking up with Jennifer Dukes Lee for #TellHisStory

and with Lyli Dunbar for #ThoughtProvokingThursday

Tuesdays Unwrapped... Letting Go of the Crazy

Ya'll... it's December 10th!

December 10th!!!

I know...  I know maybe if you are new(ish) around here, or don't know me in real life - this may not mean much to you but to me and my family, December 10th has long been my self-imposed Deadline to go crazy and have a mini melt down in order to finish All. The. Things.  

Whatever.

This year, thanks to maturing,  no not that... thanks to Advent, I have approached the season with a slower pace... but still - December 10th is here and so today is the last possible day of Crazy that is allowed in this house.

For several years... maybe a decade? - I have given myself this 'deadline' of sorts to be all done with the Christmas shopping and decorating and party planning and wrapping of gifts and all the bossy lists of things to do this season.  December 10th... I set it at first because back in the day I was that one girl who was mostly done by August anyway... I know... (I'm sorry!)  Those days are over. Long gone. A distant memory.  I think they faded when my Little was not so little anymore and her wants were not so easily purchased months in advance (and in a toy aisle!) 

Still... December 10th is still doable.  Even if I don't start until mid-October Black Friday... I can do this!

Normally - the last few days (which means December 7-10th) can get a little cray cray around here... lots of stress and rushing around and it seems insane to all the unlookers and people who don't live here because - well - I DO realize that it is still weeks before Christmas.  However - I normally push through the tense muscles, the deep breathing, the midnight wrapping, and the too-much-coffee-consuming-while-trying-to-make-and-address-these-cards parts and I make it! 

I get through the whirlwind of December 10th and then... gloriously have nothing (no. thing.) to do until Christmas Eve.  I mean - sure... there is the baking, and the parties, and the caroling maybe... there's the Christmas movies and hot chocolate and driving around looking at all the pretty lights... there is all of the FUN stuff... but there is nothing else!

(See?  Brilliant, right?)

So today... seeing this on my (only somewhat-) Bossy List, it didn't stir up anxiety or cause my heart (or car) to race!  I really am mostly done!

Tonight is December 10th... and thanks to The Nester and her also brilliant NOT To Do list and boldness in loudly declaring that she is not sending Christmas Cards (AND is not feeling guilty about it!) I followed her lead and crossed that off my list this year as well!  Not an easy task, mind you! I make cards for a living... I love the handmade craftiness of a holiday card and of course - I write a family Christmas Letter. (I know right? You're so surprised!)  But we had agreed as a family that we were cutting back on spending in order to give more this Christmas and as much as I love the whole ritual of Christmas cards and snail mail... it was one expense that seemed easy enough to skip! (Then again... after the holidays - you may just receive a handmade Martin Luther King Day card... Oh you laugh, but it could happen!)

I will still write a Christmas Letter... I know... see? It's gonna be alright! Exhale!  It will have to sort of go viral online to reach everyone, however I refuse to worry about it!

Instead, I will be making breakfast for dinner and wrapping gifts tonight!  The Christmas Letter? I'll work on that (gasp!) tomorrow...

After all, it's Advent right? And Advent is all about the waiting... it's all about His coming... and so I stick by my self-imposed tradition (and reserve the right to break my own rules) and I will still be done with the running around of Christmas, just in time to slow down and breathe in all that matters! I will make time to wait... 

Because... He's always worth it!



I'm linking up with Emily over at Chatting at the Sky for #tuesdaysunwrapped

...and with Crystal for #Behindthescenes

That Thing I Do Now - Vol 21

Last week I sort of took the easy way out... a small gathering of videos that inspired and blessed.  It worked... but I know how you are and I know that you - like me - love to READ all kinds of Awesome, so we are back and ready to hook you up with some of the Amazing that happened all over the internet this week! 

Without further ado... here we go!
Happy Reading!

* This one by Sarah Bessey on Advent because... well - it's Sarah Bessey, and I am just truly learning about Advent myself!

* This post over at The MOB Society by Emily Wierenga on why she wants her sons to be like Ron Swanson

* This post by Jennifer Dukes Lee on meeting the filthy rich - so much yes! I love that she has invited us to come with her on her family trip to Haiti!

* This one by Jon Acuff on how to survive "Christmas Shoes"

* This by Christie Purifoy... again - on Advent and how a weary world rejoices.

* This little piece of Awesome by Erika Morrison over at The Life Artist... I dare you to read this and not come just a little bit undone!

* This post on when Hope shows up and lands on you softly by Ann Voskamp!

* This tender post by Amber Haines... "We’re forced to live in the now, because any imagined future that is tinged with doubt wears a devil’s mask. Hope in the revelation of Jesus is the only future that faith imagines. I hope to see the face of God."

* This post - because really - how could we not just pause a moment, and honor a man who laid down his life and showed us the (better) way... this - by Lisa Jo Baker over at Deeper Story.

* The post right here from Abiding Love, Abounding Grace where I "Reflect" for Five Minute Friday.

Of course - we now come to the video portion... because, you know... "that's how we do!" 

My favorite Christmas Song...

What did I miss? Did you find anything Amazing online this week that I didn't list here? Link it in the comments and share the love, and let me know what YOUR favorite Christmas song is, friends!

Reflect - Five Minute Friday

This will be our last official Five Minute Friday of 2013.  We'll be taking the rest of December off and will return to encouraging each other and writing free and linking up at Lisa Jo's again in January... so it was bittersweet that so many things unfolded today and tonight that beckoned for my attention... I was in and (mostly) out of the #fmfparty at Twitter but when I was there, it was - as it always is - a gathering of hearts and laughter... of friends... of sisters... and I know I say it every time but oh how I love these people writers, ARTISTS! It's an honor to do life with them and sit for five minutes, and just let the words paint a picture... 

Oh but - first - the fine print: if you don't know what FMF is!  Five Minute Fridays are hosted by Lisa Jo Baker.  It is open to anyone, so to learn more about it - and to jump in yourself (the more the merrier!) or just to find a linky to see what everyone is writing about today - click HERE!  The idea is to simply write... for Five Minutes flat... no editing, no deep thinking - or at least REthinking, no spell check - just write! Let it flow! We all write using a prompt that Lisa posts at 10pm Thursday night (EST.)  I'm loving the community of amazing bloggers and the creativity that flows from these magical Five Minutes!

So - here goes: Five Minute Friday - The Word Prompt is:  REFLECT

{GO}

It's not as if there wasn't already all sorts of Tradition wrapped into tonight's agenda:

Some Christmas cookies, a bit of crafting, & The Sound of Music (-ish)

After dinner, the three of us cozied up on the couch and with the lights twinkling on the tree, we sipped something warm and watched Carrie Underwood solve a problem like bring a new face to Maria.  I heard all the Twitter chatter... 'She's not Julie Andrews' and the like. And she's not... but we all three loved it.  We thought the whole cast did great and we all three all stayed awake (which is not always the case for the movie!)

And then...

Well - flashback to earlier in the evening, as I was going through old photo's for #tbt (Throwback Thursday) when I found this little gem:

Yeah... circa 1995 - our Girlies' First Christmas.  (Ya gotta love it when everyone IN the picture agrees that everyone looks so much better now - 18 years later!)

You see last year was our Year of Lasts.  She was a senior in high school and we thought everything would change come summer... but we had been so tightly knit (back) together and God is so gracious, that while she IS a college girl now, at least for now - she is doing that from home! So my anticipated Empty Nest Downton Abbey marathons melt downs have yet to happen!  

So - thanks Wal-mart.  Thanks alot...

Last night, during The Sound of Music LIVE - they played a commercial featuring the one song that simply undoes me when it comes to parenting and Lasts and after the first note - my girlie and I were both sitting there instantly sobbing. 

Yeah... we like tradition...

...and we come from a long line of kickers-against-the-goads, of resisters-of-change... but we are trying to lean in instead of back out.  We are learning, together, to embrace change! But this song just brought up too many memories... and while we love to look back and reflect (on the good and the bad) - in the dark of the family room, with only the glow of the tv, the twinkling of lights, and the glistening of teary eyes... we snuggled in closer, and we counted our gifts silently... and we thought of a few of our favorite things!

{STOP}

(Did you see what I did there?) 

Honestly - if you don't know what song I am referring to... well - be warned... here it is:

(#sorrynotsorry)

I wanted to remind ya'll that I am hosting a Giveaway this week for a new Devotional by Barbie Swihart called Coffee Talk with Jesus... so hope on over HERE to enter! I've read this devotional and can't think of a better way to kick off the New Year than with a month long standing coffee date with Jesus!

Five Minute Fridays gives us the chance to dive right in and share what He puts on our hearts! Click here to read what others have to say about "REFLECT"  

Coffee with Jesus, discovering Advent, & Tuesdays Unwrapped

If you have spent any time at all around my little corner of the blogosphere, then you know...

You know that I have this obsession, no  addiction, no, uh, this love for coffee! 

...and I hope that if you have been around here at all - you also know that I have this love for Jesus too!

Combining them together is a daily happening around here. I awake to the smell of coffee brewing and it is like a wake up call to come and sit with Him! I have a coffee date with Jesus nearly every day and so when I heard that my sweet friend Barbie Swihart was transforming her #31days series from last year into a 31 Day Devotional entitled Coffee Talk with Jesus - I was already in!

Then I was honored to be offered a pre-release PDF copy to read and review here with you.  So this is my honest review... You are going to want to get your hands on (and your heart into) this book!

Barbie is a fellow blogger and a kindred spirit for sure!  We share so many things, most importantly our love for Jesus, our desire to Speak Life, our gift of Intercession and encouragement, and our hope that our readers will come to know that Jesus is personal and intimate... He is real and He's so in love with you!  

In this, her first book, she includes daily devotionals that cover such topics as: Do You Trust Me, I Am a Good Father, I Believe in You, Tear Down Those Walls, You are Loved, You Are Not a Failure, and I Delight In You! 

If you read my Encountering God series, you may remember that I shared a bit about a practice referred to as Listening Prayer and Barbie just sets you right up for this! With each Daily Devotional, she includes a conversation with Jesus, a Scripture, and she invites you in to have a conversation with Jesus yourself. She provides space to write down what is stirred up in you, and then each entry closes with a prayer.

Through out the book are also some delicious recipes that feature coffee as an ingredient! I can't wait to make some of them over the holidays!

This little gem is now available on Kindle ($3.99 today!) and in Soft Cover ($8.09 today) over at Amazon.  What a great way to kick off the new year... a month long standing coffee date with Jesus! What is better than that?  

On a side note, for the first time ever... I am joining in and celebrating Advent.  Honestly - I have been a Christian for over half of my life but I had never understood Advent.  I thought it was merely a cute calendar to count down to Christmas and a sneaky way to get in a little chocolate? How did I not know this sacred practice?  I am joining Ann Voskamp, reading her new book The Greatest Gift, and participating in the Advent Bible reading plan with Good Morning Girls and I am undone already... and this is only Day 3, ya'll! I can feel it... this Christmas is going to be different... it will mean less of some things, and so much more of others!

So today, as I join in with Emily Freeman this month in Unwrapping Tuesdays, the thing that could have so easily been overlooked and unappreciated is this:  Our God is Love... and He has been coming for us since the beginning of time and even though I know that... this Advent... this Christmas, with sisters who weave words together that bless and encourage like Ann and Barbie... I am leaning in all the more and finding that He has had me in His heart all along!

I am meeting with Jesus, sharing a cup of coffee and some conversation, and I invite you to do the same!

P.S.  So, because I love you... and I really want you to meet with Jesus and hear His heart for you... (and thanks to Barbie for offering this free Giveaway!) we are gonna Hook. You. Up. because, well - 'tis the season, right? This is a perfect Christmas gift, Stocking stuffer, or invitation for any time of year!

a Rafflecopter giveaway


I am linking up with Emily Freeman today for Tuesdays Unwrapped

....and a friendly reminder of yesterdays' post where we announce Phase #5 for InMercy!

Living out Christmas... Giving Love, Hope, & (in)Mercy

So, I wrote about Phase #1 of the (in)Mercy House Project in September.  In that post I wrote this:

"There is an amazing Community online... I mean, take-your-breath-away, encouraging, uplifting, let's-bond-together-and-change-the-world kind of gathering of Awesomeness... they break up into smaller groups all over the blogosphere but as a whole, many of them can be found over at (in)courage.me and I assure you that once you visit - well, you are like family and there is just no need to knock! Oh no... when you are part of the family - you are invited to just come right on in!"

 So we invited ya'll in and oh my how you stepped up and came in and helped us to reach our goal!  We fully funded that van so fast! In fact, all of Phases 1-4 were funded ahead of schedule and this makes us all giddy with excitement!

Phase #5 is the biggest, the most audacious of goals... for we want to purchase a second home for our sisters in Kenya! Yes... we know! It is a God-sized dream, for sure! But our God? He loves it when we dream big and we are believing that as we partner together and enter in to this season of Giving by giving whatever we can, He will take our offering and bless it and multiply it and provide some Rooms for these pregnant Mama's... no more do we want to hear "There's no room in the Inn!"

photo by Bess Brownlee 

 I was tempted to just link to Ann's words here...
because, as always, they bless!

Then I wanted to just link to Kristen's words here...
because she shows us what all those Phases 'fully funded' truly look like.

But I decided that I really wanted to add my own words to this cause too... simply because He is stirring our hearts and meeting us in ways that are causing us to get a bigger vision. 

My little family of three... for way too long we believed the lie that our limited paycheck-to-paycheck budget was too small to really make a difference.  Sure - we tithe... we give to local ministries and missionary friends and global outreaches.  But somehow we had forgotten that even $5.o0 can change the world.  In our American Dream, we-can-have-it-all culture - if we can't go big... we just go home.

But not anymore! You all proved that to me! With $5 here and $25 there, we joined hearts and wallets and we sowed into the red dirt ground of Kenya and we changed the world for our sisters in Africa! We did it first in buying a Van... then on to building classrooms, purchasing a generator, and equipping a computer lab... but it hasn't all been isolated to the Mercy House... no - I have joined hands and hearts (and yes, wallets) for other things too... aid to the Philippines and to Syria... and that day when we all joined ranks and did Laundry together with Lisa Jo. 

God is showing us here at home that even if we can't give MUCH... He makes much of what we can give!  When we open our hearts and our hands and offer up what we can... He meets us right in the middle of our God-Sized Dreams and shows off just a little!  And He should... for He gets all the glory!

Join us in Being the Gift... in sowing a little (or a lot) this Christmas!  I don't know about you and your family, but each December, as a family we look for ways that we can be a blessing.  We look for ways that we can put our money where our mouth is and we purpose to Speak Life, to Be Love, and to Shine On...  We decided already to cut back on how much we spend on ourselves and our families... in order to live out Christmas all the way across the world! We want to bring a bit of Christmas to Kenya and to make more 'room' in the 'Inn' (InMercyHouse - that is!)




To Join with us in Phase #5, click HERE



P.S. Because today is officially Cyber Monday... I wanted to let you know that you can also purchase some gifts and be the gift at the same time! You can Shop MercyHouse here! (Today or any day!)

#BetheGift