“He loves to give new beginnings, and He loves it when you dream.” -Dutch Sheets

Ok this quote is a shameless plug for my bosses’ new book titled Dream due out May 1st. Woot Woot!! :-) I had a sneak peek at the new book today and that quote had to be shared. God is a dreamer. This whole week is a dream for me. Not necessarily the finding dead squirrels (picture below) or the day to day routine, but being at my current job and heading to Africa. You see I’m not quite sure when I became obsessed with African Elephants, but I know I loved them by the time I was 6. I am also not sure if the love for elephants or for Kenya were first on my heart, but it’s like the chicken and the egg. All I know is that I love both. I would write poems about African Elephants in first grade and had this huge heart to save them as they are endangered animals. Then in second grade I could write a report on any nation in the world and I chose Kenya. I have always been obsessed with anyone I met who was from Kenya or who had even been to Kenya. Matter of fact my friend, Pradeepan, who started the 30 day Blogrimage was introduced to me because he was leading a trip to Kenya. It is amazing how every desire even since I was a kid and asked for a globe for my birthday in second grade was shaped by God’s desires over my life. Who knew that the girl who absolutely hated mud and most things outdoors would be called to the missions field. But God! So…here I am at almost 26 years old, nearly 20 years after writing poems and drawing a Kenyan flag and I am about to go on an airplane…to KENYA! Not only that, but I get to meet up with my boyfriend who was born and raised on the missions field in Kenya. African Elephants are the norm for him as they were practically in his backyard as a kid. Ok, clearly that’s an exaggeration, but the man knows Kenya. I have no expectations other than I will encounter God in more ways that I even know. I have tried to go to Kenya a couple of times for missions trips and trained about 10 mission teams that have gone there, yet I’ve never been. If you don’t think God is involved in every detail, dreaming over your life…think again! :) I even had a dream last night that marked me in a powerful way. God dreams and He gives us dreams, not just in the night but in our heart of hearts.

I have literally been desiring to find a hammock in the middle of nowhere and lay down for days. Sometimes I just want to get lost where no one can find me and be alone with God. Sometimes the noises and distractions of life crowd out that breath of God in my life. Tonight I found it! A PERFECT hammock situated in the midst of a small forest (in my best friend’s backyard). I have no idea why I’ve never noticed it before but it seemed to call out to me, beckoning me to come away. Really it was Holy Spirit giving me an invitation of refreshing. As I lay there I stayed until it was nearly dark and I could see the moon. Thanks to my best friend who brought me OFF bug repellent, I don’t have any known mosquito bites. She learned her lesson a couple of nights ago :-( It was refreshing to be still and smile, cry, and dream with my sweet Jesus. After all this week is a holy week in remembrance of Him. I absolutely miss being at my home church in Tulsa this week. I have had the honor of playing Mary Magdalene in our illustrated sermon several times in recent years. The intense weeping and agony feeling of following Jesus to the cross and his tomb is extremely weighty even as an actress. I can’t imagine the reality of what she would have felt. Yet…there was JOY in His resurrection. Tears fill my eyes as I write this because I can’t explain the tangible joy I feel even when acting once I know that indeed Jesus is ALIVE! Something I remember my pastor saying one year that was my cue to walk on stage was, “The disciples knew that at any moments the same soldiers that took Jesus could come for them. It looked like it was all over…or was it…?” The HOPE that filled people’s hearts could be felt on stage. Going back to the original quote, God loves to give new beginnings even when we think He’s done. (shameless plug to go to Victory Christian Center’s illustrated sermon this weekend in person or online at Victory.com)

So whether I am in Kenya, laying in a hammock, or crying at the foot of a production’s cross of Jesus, I am surrounded by a God who has fashioned every part of me. When I find myself in the middle of His will, I stand amazed. 

“My God is not dead, He’s surely alive. He’s living on the inside roaring like a lion!”

“Buy Sell Trade”…your jeans!

I am crying as I write this. Not because I am sad or even happy for that matter, but because I am cooking onions. This is probably one of the most intense onions I’ve ever cut open!! It reminds me of my everyday morning smell of…well onions! Thank you onion grass. Someone cut our grass around our office today and…yes you guessed it! My office was soon flooded with the overpowering aroma of onions. So I figured I should just make some caramelized onions tonight. I am not sure why, but they are some of my absolute favorite things to eat. Weird right? I don’t like red onions and I don’t really like yellow onions on anything. Yet give me caramelized onions and I will eat the whole thing! To me it is a little sweet and not so intense-even on your breath! ;-) I am the kind of girl that likes my toast a little on the burnt side and I will always eat the crust of an oven brick baked pizza. Now these things I can’t eat anymore thanks to gluten and my body not getting alone :-/ BUT I guess that’s why I don’t mind overcooked onions. I honestly am not one that likes cooking, but I really like cooking with my boyfriend and he apparently has a few Malagasy dishes we’ll cook up together when I visit. Be jealous! ;-)

Moving right along…yes I skipped yesterdays blog. I have a thing against the number 21 so I decided to not write. Ok, the truth is that I have been tempted many other days to do so, but I finally gave in yesterday. I wasn’t feeling well and I had other things to get done before I went to bed.  One of those things I felt I needed to accomplish was reading more in one of the books I am reading. There are literally about 6 books that I am reading right now. It depends on the day and the mood I am in. Some days none are picked up, often one is emphasized and some days there are three read. This is where my right brain random processing comes into play ;-) All I would have written about was Coco anyways. I’m pretty positive he bit a hole into my best friend’s cute skirt yesterday.  If only he wasn’t so cute…

As I am typing this and cooking my dinner, a friend just returned my call and the usual game of, “hello? Are you there? Can you hear me? Sorry! I live in the stix” ensued. I have still yet to finalize this game of phone tag. I wonder how many dropped calls I’ve had between both of my phones. Sometimes AT&T is better, then at other times Sprint wins. Helps to keep both handy, of course unless I am leaving one behind, which is a frequent occurrence.

Below I attached a picture of what one of the accommodations the 1,000 plus guests stayed in this past weekend. Now to paint an accurate picture, we DO have a Days Inn here, but this is priceless! View the Hamilton Holiday Hotel…that has probably not had a paint job since 1963? 73? If you have the desire to come to Hamilton to see the farm, visit Coco, eat at “The Hunters Mexican Grill”, or just want to go to sleep listening to cows, please let me know and I will hook you up! Be warned thought that it may not be QUITE as “neat” as the Hotel.

As I write tonight I’m full of thoughts of both home and of Africa. Of the latter I wish I could be there tomorrow, but it is a good thing I’m not leaving yet because I’m not packed entirely!! I did however unpack the remainder of clothes from home and sorted out what I would be taking. My clothes smelled like home :-) I miss Tulsa a lot right now. It’s not the city really even though that’s home and comfortable (and has frozen yogurt places, shopping centers, a skyline etc. Haha), but it’s the people that I miss. My mom jokingly said she’d send one of my dogs that I miss so much. I’d be afraid she’d turn into a roaming crazy country dog that some girl from Oklahoma would blog about ha! Sorry for a homesick post, but it’s just how I feel. I miss being around a lot of people I love. I’ve also never prepared to go overseas from anywhere but Tulsa. It makes me feel like I’m forgetting something. I do have my passport though so at least it isn’t that ;-)

I have received more snail mail since I’ve lived here than I’d imagined I would. I love the couple of letters I’ve gotten from close friends . Both were people who I coordinated their weddings. There is a friend in Tulsa who will appreciate that in all of my snail mail that I haven’t gotten any wedding invitations. Sadly I am going to miss three weddings while I live here :-(( One is next weekend while I’m in Africa. As much as I’d love to be at the wedding to celebrate, I wouldn’t trade my plane ticket for anything.

I just had to pause while writing this and look up the weather. It is raining and I heard strange sirens. I’d hate to be the only one who didn’t know what the sirens were indicating!

Below are a couple of pictures of super old cars I saw driving here in Hamilton.

All is well here and I’m ready for a good night’s sleep.