First of all, I am always so blown away at the Lord's blessings. One in which he has been laying on my heart time and time again lately is the incredible family of friends he has blessed me with over the years. Let me say before I go on that I am also very blessed to have such a wonderful family as well! But I'd like to share a little bit that's been on my mind lately about the incredible friends he has placed in my life. Not only the ones that I know will last a lifetime but also the friends that he gives and takes away.
I received a phone call a few weeks ago from my representative at my company. She had heard through the grapevine that I might be traveling to China during the summer. This started a conversation about my friends living in China and also the opportunity to travel to Africa with another college buddy. After talking out my possible summer plans she went on to say..."well you just have cool friends!" Well yes, yes I do! And so often I forget just how unique and special the opportunity the Lord has given me to walk through this life with such amazing people. I'd like to share just how thankful I am for these little blessings in my life...
Let's go back to the beginning. My sister. We've definitely had our ups and downs. That happens when you are as different as the night from the day however we have one very important thing in common, our relationships with Christ. It's so easy to allow the worst to come out in you in family relationships and believe me my ugliness has shown one too many time in ours. But I am so very thankful for how the Lord has allowed us to grow over the years. Even miles apart he is sovereign enough to have drawn us closer together in the difficulties of distance.
I am so very thankful for the friendships he blessed me with in Oxford. As I have grown and traveled I have learned that the church and schools and opportunities we had in little Oxpatch were such a unique blessing. In a fallen world where relationships are tearing apart more and more each day I am reminded of how special it is that I have friends and sisters in my life that I know will last a lifetime even if we are miles apart.
Speaking of miles apart. My bestie and newly wed sister is all the way around the world in China. The joke as a kid about digging a hole to China has become a reality in the fact that if I could do so I would and crawl that tunnel every single day to chat face to face with her! I miss her dearly and more to share later about how thankful I am for her heart.
Throwback! So his hand was over me in so many ways in his leading me to Delta State. Memories and buddies that I will never forget and continue to share life with!...
We learned to cook...and boil water ;) (LB)
Laughed until we cried...
Drove to the river and sang "wagon wheel" 100X...
Dressed in tons of crazy outfits...
And traveled the world together...
We joined in on movements and stood up for causes to be the hand and feet of Jesus...
He carried me to new places and continued to bless me with just the ones I needed to get through...
And we always made a point to get back together even when he began taking us on new adventures...
He took me places where I was all alone and carried me through those moments with the love and support of these amazing people...
And even now as he continues to lead me into new amazing places like Nashville, TN he so graciously places such special brothers and sisters in my life who love the Lord and and desire to live this life with the sole purpose of knowing Christ and making him known...
Now we are getting married and having babies!!! I am in 4 weddings this year! Makes for a crazy schedule but how stinking awesome to have so many friends to share these beautiful moments in life with! Recently, I was given the opportunity to speak at the MS Speech Pathology conference on craniofacial disorders. It's moments like these where the Lord has used friends to remind me of times in my life where I felt inadequate or incapable however he was always faithful. Like when I was given the job of being president of a sorority or taking on the task of completing a very difficult graduate program or moving to Atlanta and Nashville. It's my friends who remind me that I am more willing to hop on a plane and serve in a foreign place than I am to speak in front of an audience. So they encourage me to face my fears and it's during those times that the Lord shapes us into who he desires for us to be. I don't believe the Lord won't give us more than we can handle. I believe he wants us to experience moments where we are given more than we can handle or where we feel completely incapable because that's where we must rely on a power greater than ourselves to get us through those moments so that he is the only one who gets the glory! He suffered a painful death on a cross so I may be forgiven for every sin I'll ever commit so why not face fears and things that are hard doing what we can to give back to our saviour!
I have also been battling through the questions and growth that come with the special people in our lives that he gives and takes away. With the recent reminders of how incredibly blessed I am with the people he's put in my life that I know will stay I have also been overwhelmed recently with the ones that don't. Sometimes life just happens and some of those friendships grow apart. I think some are meant to be in our lives at certain moments. It would be impossible to keep in touch with every single one he's blessed us with. And in some cases there is one or maybe more in some people's lives that just don't make it into every chapter of your life no matter how bad you try or want them to. Talk about relying on a strength greater than yourself! I feel he's been giving me many opportunities to do so lately. And I'm so thankful for how he's carried me through those moments giving me that strength that I didn't always rely on. He has used "giving and taking away" in my life before to bring eternal change in my heart and life and he continues to do so for my good and his glory. Sometimes the temptations are so strong to pick up the phone or let my mind wander however he is greater than our weaknesses and continues to use people in my life to remind me of how far the Lord has brought me. I am learning that loving someone else and yourself the best you can can sometimes mean to totally let go of a relationship. As the reality of this continues to set in I am thankful for how the Lord blesses me with glimpses of what he is doing in my life to give me strength to push through and have hope. SO, amidst the many weddings and babies that flood our facebook pages, this single girl and her single buddy Laura Beth Scipper will be fleeing the country once again for a new adventure!...
I took a job as a speech therapist in the schools to have a little more time on my hands to serve in various ways hopefully. I have constantly been praying he would open doors and lead me to whatever he may have for me. One thing he has laid heavy on my heart over the years is James 1:27 True religion that is pure and undefiled before the Father is this to visit orphans and widows in their affliction and keep thyself unstained from the world. I think he gives us this word because one it truly glorifies him which is what we were made to do and two when we follow his commands it's in those places where we are truly joyful. Because I believe true joy comes from obedience and service to our King! Okay so this obviously has gotten very long again, but let me tell you about the exciting new adventure in my life...
First of all I am so thankful for my friend Brynn Vaughn who truly wants and desires for me to follow where the Lord leads me. It was very difficult faced with two incredible opportunities to serve this summer. One to be with a friend in China and another with a friend in Africa. After much prayer I am so thankful that when I felt a strong desire to be in Africa, she was so understanding. I am so blessed to have friends who like Christ are selfless and support me in all kinds of decisions.
Laura Beth Scipper and I will be teaming up with a non-profit Christian organization called 127 Worldwide to travel to East Africa. I am so thankful at the Lord's goodness that during a month that I knew would be hard for me he has given me the opportunity to serve in a place I hold so dear to my heart. For the month of June I'll be traveling throughout Uganda and Kenya serving various ministries. Then I'll return in July for a fun filled month of time with Brynn's return to the U.S. and weddings, weddings, weddings! Laura Beth and I will begin our journey in Nebbi, Uganda, a small village in Northern Uganda close to the borders of the Sudan and Congo. There we will live with a pastor's family serving with Acres of Hope with a project involving the building of pod houses each that will be a home for a widow and her children as well as other orphaned or vulnerable children. We are excited to be able to be a part of this process and loving and serving the people in this area in the name of Jesus. We hope to do Bible studies with women and children in the area during our two week stay. We also plan to kill and eat a chicken...Then we will travel to the slums of Nairobi, Kenya where we will partner with Swahiba Youth Networks. Here we will work with various projects such as discipleship programs geared towards young women focusing on purity, reproductive health, and selfworth and camp ministry for the most destitute children from the slums of Nairobi. From there we will finish our trip in Malava, Kenya working with a more established orphanage and school, Tumaini Miles of Smiles Centre. I will be in Africa for 4 weeks and Laura Beth for seven. We are excited to catch a vision for this non-profit and possibly continue to be involved on ground as well as in the states helping raise awareness and with child sponsorship, etc. Please pray as we will be in an area touched by the excruciating pains of a long war. Pray that we will meet needs physically and spiritually. Pray for these ministries that the Lord will continue to use them to bring hope and salvation. We await for his return and are eager to tell the good news to those who have not heard so that the whole world will hear and then the end come so we can see our savior face to face!
Love and peace,
Staci
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