Letting Go

This weekend I had a moving sale. The doors were opened to the city and price tags were put on pretty much everything in the house. This process surfaced a surprising array of emotions - greed, joy, panic, and thankfully freedom. By God's good grace the feeling of freedom won out over the others. I have never been more free to travel. If you subtract the stuff that will be babysat by dear friends and family, my belongings currently fit in one room.

I spent the day releasing things precious to me.  Through this process I realized that my sentimental attachments were mine and mine alone. For instance, as a woman was purchasing a dress, I said "That's from Liberia!" with excitement, to which she replied, "Is it still $1?"  I said good-bye to the red jacket that the buyer clearly did not know how to wear. The Pier One salt and pepper shakers that I waited to find on clearance for months were gone in the blink of an eye. The stories of letting go filled my day, each a bit easier than the previous. 

But Wanda was the story of the day, the story I'll remember forever. 

Twelve years ago a friend of mine died as a result of a skiing accident. This was my first time to experience loss like that and it was a difficult journey for me personally. At the time I was given a stuffed bear praying on his knees and it has always been special to me relative to that loss.  After some debate I decided it was time to let go of the bear, and I put him up for sale this weekend. A lady named Wanda picked him up with some other things from the sale. As she was paying for her purchases she asked about where I was going, and what I was going to be doing. I told her all about the Pearl House. Once I finished, she picked up the bear, gave him back to me and asked me to give him to one of the girls that we will be helping. She then proceeded to get out the rest of her cash ($115) and hand it to me. With a hug and a "God bless you" she walked out of the house. 

Thank you, God, for using that moving sale day to set me free from my stuff and for using Wanda to remind me that I will never out-give you!

Room at the Red Roof Inn

One of the questions I am most often asked is "where will you be staying"?

While visiting Ghana in January we looked at a few different rental properties. It was a unanimous decision to choose this property just up the road (couple hundred yards?) from where the Pearl House will be built. There is a concrete wall surrounding 3 houses that have 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms each. We plan to rent 2 or 3 of the houses, meaning that we have a capacity of 8 girls until our permanent facility is built. Thankfully, we will also have access to running water and electricity.

This is the front of one of the houses. The open area on the right is the living room area. The barred window to the left is the front bedroom and bathroom. Down the hallway is another bathroom, bedroom and kitchen area. Hopefully construction has continued since we left. If so, they should be all finished up by the time I arrive in May.

It is exciting to look at this picture and dream about the healing and restoration God will bring about in the lives of young Ghanaian women in this place. May it be so in Jesus Name!

I Surrender All

I need you.

I surrender.

These words have been the first to go through my head upon waking each morning the past few weeks. Not because I am just that holy, but because I am just that desperate. I am painfully aware that I have no control over anything. If I make a plan, it is guaranteed to change. Most of the familiar will be fading away over the next few weeks – the house I come home to, the “stuff” that makes this house a home, the car I drive, the people I see regularly.

I’m caught somewhere between yesterday and tomorrow with very few certainties. The people in my daily life have a lot of questions. The answer to most of these is “I don’t know.” I find a small bit of sinister joy when others experience frustration over this … welcome to my world.

Today is where God has me, and today is always the best place to be. I am confident that the job ahead is more challenging than I can imagine. I am also confident that through desperate need and through surrender, I will find and experience God in ways I never even imagined before.

And my prayer is that some young teenage girls in Ghana will experience the same.

Life in General

The last few months have been quite the whirlwind. They have been full of holiday celebrations, a survey trip to Ghana, finishing up work at a church I dearly love and making preparations to move to another country!

The quick overview is that my time working at White Station in an official capacity is finished. I will always love this church and hope to continue calling it family for a long time to come.  This last week was full of generous expressions of love and kindness from the oldest to the youngest. At the end of this road I find myself overwhelmed with gratitude – to this church family and to God. What a blessing to share life with these believers here in Memphis.

I plan to spend most of March and April in Memphis or Maryville … with a little bit of Florida thrown in for good measure. My time will be filled with all the necessary preparations, Pearl House work and hopefully some rest. Sometime in mid-May I plan to hop on a plane and make my way to Ghana.Things are moving at a rapid pace with the Pearl House, so I hope to share some of those details as they come along. 

May the One who does immeasurably more than I can imagine be the one to make this dream a reality.