Coming in Sideways

We’re finishing up another trip to the States of visiting friends, family, and churches and as I sit and process it all, I think it can be easily summed up by comparing it to our flights yesterday.

 

We were coming back from visiting my sister in Canada for Thanksgiving, and there were delays coming in and going out due to the first major snowstorm of the year pushing up the east coast. We had two flights to arrive at our destination for the night. One on a tiny express jet.

 

Did I mention a major cold front was pushing through? Cue turbulence. I’ve flown a lot, and I know that turbulence is really nothing to worry about. However, when I suddenly have the sensation of weightlessness as we are mid-air and pitching up and down, doubt quickly enters my mind. Being surrounded by a high thick cloud bank and not being able to see anything outside the plane also multiplied the anxiety. Whew. I am grateful that there was WiFi on the plane and I was able to distract myself by texting my sister who was watching the radar and encouraging me that we were moving through the worst of the weather and would soon push through the other side. 

 

The Pink Glow

 As we shook sideways and up and down, I glanced at the flight timer which       seemed to move in reverse. I felt like we should have landed an hour ago. Then I noticed the thick cloud bank outside the window started to have a pink glow…then  the pink started to turn red… and orange. This was a first for me. Without being able to see anything outside the window (like being in a thick fog), I started to consider which part of the plane must be on fire or if we had finally flown into the sun.

 

That’s when we broke through. Suddenly, we flew out of the cloud bank and what I saw next took my breath. The clouds parted and there were clouds above us and below us and in the middle it was COMPLETELY clear. The sky was painted in incredible reds, pinks, oranges, and yellows as the sun was setting over the horizon. It took my breath and IMMEDIATELY caused my soul to spontaneously worship. Tears filled my eyes. Wow. In my heart, I heard God whisper  “I’m here..  I’m still here… and passing through the storm is WORTH IT.” The sky cleared and the turbulence disappeared.

 

There are times when life is “lifing” extra hard. When we can’t see anything around us and we’re getting bounced all around. When the accelerations and decelerations have us spinning and worried about what is happening and we’re hoping that the worst is behind us. When doubt lurks in the back of our mind and we don’t know if we can make it to the other side. However, God is still with us. Even when we can’t see Him, or feel Him. He’s there in the storm with us and will be waiting for us on the other side when the skies clear.

 

This trip back to the States has had its unique challenges and amazing blessings, and God was in every moment of it. He was there in the hugs, the times of worship, time with family and friends, providing every step of the way. We still came in sideways to Reagan airport on our second flight, but we know that He was with us. We are so grateful for the opportunities to travel to visit our friends and family and are grateful when God so clearly reminds us of who He is in the midst all of it.

 

 

Impossible God

Today I heard a sermon from Pastor Nina at New Life Church entitled “A Divine Invitation from God”. In the sermon, Pastor Nina quotes Watchman Nee saying “God never asks us to do anything we can do. He asks us to live a life which we can never live and to do a work which we can never do. Yet, by His grace, we are living it and doing it.” Pastor Nina continues by saying that God will call us to do the impossible. In fact, if it’s something we can do on our own, it is probably not from God (loosely quoted). After hearing this, I began to reflect on the impossibilities that God has called me to. Immediately, the wall came to mind. 

The original "plan" 

In 2020, we began building a perimeter wall around a property we have in Guatemala. Building a wall to enclose the property is the first step to constructing our ministry home. We had an initial idea about what it was going to look like but had no idea of how it was going to come together. Our land is just over ½ an acre and the wall would be 788 linear feet and 9 feet tall. At that time, I had pretty limited construction experience, and if you had told me that I would be building a wall I probably would have laughed.  We also had no idea what it was going to cost or how we were going to pay for it. 

Raul Working on the Panels 

In March of 2020, I went to the States to visit my sister. During this visit, the pandemic exploded across the globe, and I ended up being “stuck” in the US for seven months and unable to return to Guatemala
as the borders and the airport were closed. It was during this period of time that my husband, Raul, began constructing metal panels for the wall. The wall at that time was pretty much only a dream. We still had nothing to attach these metal panels to (thank God for a visionary husband). After I returned to Guatemala, Raul began working with local construction workers to dig the ditch for the footings, place support beams, and connect the initial rebar panels in the base of the wall.   

Me "Playing with Rocks"

As 2021 started, I felt an urge to start working on the wall. I had been hands off until this point, but the pandemic was dragging on, there were no classes at the school where we serve, and the death of my mother in December left me feeling like I needed “do something”. Raul and I had talked about constructing the base of the wall from mortared rocks, so I started to Google. I had no idea what I was doing, but I knew there was an urgency in my spirit to act. I had never worked with cement, lime, or rock before. My thought was “well, Jesus… let’s see if this works…”  and I “stepped out of the boat”! I still remember starting in the initial corner in January 2021, and little by little, working section by section, we placed mortared rocks on both sides of the rebar panels. We learned a lot doing that first side, and also realized that if we wanted to work faster, we were going to need funds to buy the materials. 

In August 2021 we officially started fundraising to build the wall. Our initial cost projection was $10,000… and then building materials skyrocketed and our costs jumped to $16,000. Honestly, fundraising for a project from Guatemala during a pandemic seemed impossible. I felt like we were trying to sell a “pipe dream” when all we had was a few mortared rocks and a partial ditch. BUT, GOD.  We made a video which we sent out to supporters and churches and little by little the funds started to come in. 

Mortared Rock Base of the Wall 

One mortared rock at a time, we made our way around the base of the wall. There were days we laughed, days we cried, and days we decided to “try again tomorrow”.  We got faster, perfected our lime mortar mix, and used muscles we never even knew we had. In February 2023, we finished all 788 linear feet of mortared rocks to form the base of the wall. Our next step was making a home for those metal panels Raul had made three years prior. 

Even though we only had a vague idea of what the wall would look like when Raul started the panels in 2020, he made EXACTLY the number of panels we would need for the front (street side) of the property.  Initially we planned to use metal panels on all the sides of the property, but then found it was more cost effective and less maintenance to put concrete on the remaining sides of the wall, and we had just the right number of panels for the front of the property. 

Pouring Columns

We all agree that pouring the concrete columns on the front of the property was THE HARDEST part of the entire wall. Due to the size of the molds we were using, the columns were poured in two parts (two days). It was nerve-wracking trying to get the columns lined up right and the rebar pins placed just right to support the panels, but we did it. Next it was the child-birth-like process of inserting the panels between the columns and anchoring them to the pins. There was more than one column to chisel and more than one panel that needed to be cut down. I still remember when we got the last panel anchored in place… we all collapsed on the ground in the shade. 

The Front of the Property 

Putting the Rebar Panels In

As we worked on the base of the wall, we also slowly put in the rebar panels that would serve as the support for the top portion of the wall. The top portion of the wall is made with a ferrocement technique. In ferrocement, rebar panels are covered with chicken wire on both sides and then a concrete mixture is troweled onto one side and then the other to completely coat the materials. We had literally ZERO experience in ferrocement, and when we did the first trial section in June 2023, I remember thinking here’s another crazy God idea! 

Ferrocement on the Remaining Sides

As with many things, we improved our ferrocement technique as we gained experience. We mixed over 500 wheelbarrow loads of concrete, learned the right consistency for the mix depending on the side of the wall, learned the right amount of pressure and
angle to use to apply the mix, and got pretty efficient at applying it. In May 2024 we were blessed with a construction team from New Life church that helped us knock out 52 ferrocement sections of the wall! Their visit gave us the energy and motivation to keep going despite feeling like we were never going to finish. And in October 2024,  we applied the ferrocement to the last section of the wall and the major work of the wall was FINISHED. 

As we inched closer to finishing that last section of the wall, we sang  “Goodness of God” through tears and laughter. Three years. Three years of blood, sweat, tears, cement, rocks, and mortar. Three years of watching God move, watching Him unveil the next steps as we worked, watching Him convert what felt as a pipe dream into a reality, watching Him provide funds at just the right time, watching Him multiply materials when we knew we didn’t have enough, and watching Him protecting us from a SINGLE INJURY (other than minor cuts/scrapes). ONLY GOD. HALLELUJAH. 

Finished

When I heard Pastor Nina’s sermon today, I thought about our Impossible God and what He has done over the past three years on our property. If you had told me that it was going to take three years, I am not sure I would have started. But I will say that in the past three years God has taken me so much deeper, walked with me through some major storms, and made me realize that even though the crazy God ideas seem impossible, we serve an Impossible God. Thank you, Jesus. 

Pastor Nina’s sermon: https://youtu.be/ac7OWgNPVJw?si=OrXrX1FwL4dQBlpk

To find out more about our ministry in Guatemala, head to our website: www.graciaministries.com

In the Midst of Chaos

This year I had the “honor” of flying the day that the Microsoft outage caused worldwide disruption of the airlines’ scheduling systems. I was flying from Raleigh Durham to Houston (and onward to Guatemala City) and our takeoff was delayed for three hours due to thunderstorms in Houston. Unfortunately, this delay caused me to miss my onward flight to Guatemala City and as we were traveling to Houston… the Microsoft outage hit.

Traveling

When I arrived in Houston, I made my way towards my gate which was at the end of the concourse.  As I got closer to the gate, the sea of people became overwhelming. I literally had to squeeze and push past people to make my way to the desk to speak to an agent. As I pressed my way through the crowd, I
noticed that none of the screens at the gates were on and there was no way to confirm which flight was leaving from which gate other than the frazzled airline agents attempting to announce information over the PA systems. People were frustrated and frazzled as they were missing their flights. Computers were down. Airline websites and apps were spotty at best. Gates were changing and information was not correct on the flight monitors. It was chaos.

When I finally got to the desk at the gate, the agent advised me that the next available flight to Guatemala City would arrive TWO DAYS LATER. A quick online search revealed that there was NOTHING available to Guatemala City on any airline for less than $2000 to arrive that day. I accepted the ticket to arrive two days later and got to work searching flights. I had a friend flying into Guatemala City that same day and a mission team coming. I NEEDED to get back ASAP.

One thing I have become well versed in living overseas is putting together itineraries with bits and pieces. I was able to book a flight from Houston to New Orleans, then New Orleans to Ft Lauderdale using the credits from my original flight. I would then switch carriers in Ft Lauderdale and fly out EARLY the next morning to Atlanta. My final flight would be Atlanta to Guatemala City, and I would arrive around 1pm. I would have a six-hour overnight layover in Ft Lauderdale, so sleeping in the airport was also in the cards but I could make it to Guatemala City the next day and pay only $270. I took a deep breath, purchased the itinerary, and headed towards my gate to take me to New Orleans.

New Orleans is one of my all-time favorite cities. The music, the food, the ambiance… even in the airport the whole vibe is different. On my layover in NOLA, I just wandered around the airport and breathed in everything. I deeply inhaled the smells of cajun and creole cooking, listened to jazz piped into every corner of the building, and could hear God’s whispers to my heart that everything would be ok. If I had to detour, New Orleans is probably the place I would pick. Next stop would be my overnight in Ft Lauderdale.

              My Chairs      

If you are ever forced to overnight in an airport, there are websites that will give you the intel on the best places to sleep (big chairs WITHOUT armrests between them, quiet corners, etc). Upon arrival, I directed myself to one of the suggested areas in Ft Lauderdale airport and I managed to score a WHOLE ROW of big chairs without armrests! I felt a little guilty for the people I passed by who were attempting to sleep twisted across armrests of chairs. I stretched out on my chairs, pulled my suitcases close, put in my headphones with white noise, and draped my scarf over my face and settled in. Yes, I COULD have gotten a hotel, but with just six hours of time I opted for an airport nap instead of spending money to stay in a room for three or four hours. Besides, there are things that happen in the middle of the night at the airport that you just don’t experience when you opt for a hotel…. Like the 2am robot cleaners.

 

At 2am I could “feel” that something was moving back and forth in front of me. I couldn’t hear anything due to my headphones, but as I uncovered my face, I felt like I was in a sci-fi movie or one of those hidden camera shows. Directly in front of me at the other side of the hallway was what looked like a big square trashcan moving back and forth completely unattended and unassisted.  I watched in awe as it moved back and forth with no one guiding it thinking… what is this thing?!! Is this the end of the world? That’s when I realized that it was cleaning the floors and was some kind of cleaning robot… Yes. Cleaning robots at 2am. Add that one to the unexpected happenings on this trip. After watching the robot for a few moments, I returned to my chair fort and tried to get more sleep before my early flight and secretly hoped that it wasn’t an assassin cleaning robot 😊.

The Sunrise

As 6am approached, I walked to my gate and nervously awaited updates. After a few moments, I stood up to stretch, and that’s when I saw the sunrise. There’s something about the warm light that infiltrates everything in the early morning hours. The windows of the airport were covered in condensation and the light was bouncing off the drops of water as it passed through the glass. The beauty took my breath.

I heard God whisper “It’s going to be ok… It’s all going to be ok. Yes, you got delayed… but I AM WITH YOU.”  Immediately He reminded me that He took me through one of my favorite cities making the most of an unexpected detour, He showed me the angels ministering to me as I slept in the airport the night before, and He surrounded me with His tangible presence so strong that I felt His arms embracing me. The tears flowed as I stood in that moment just worshiping Him.

 

Our 6am flight to Atlanta was delayed as they tried to get the computer up at the gate; however, my connecting flight to Guatemala City was also THANKFULLY delayed. I made it back to Guatemala City around 3pm that day with tears of gratitude in my eyes. I know I won’t understand on this side of Heaven what God was accomplishing through/in me through this experience. However, I am grateful that God is ALWAYS with us in the midst of the chaos.

 

So many times, we pray that God will take away the sickness, change the situation, or deflect difficulty from our lives; however, that doesn’t always happen. God uses the difficulties, the frustrations, and the unexpected speed bumps in life to show us who He is and help shape us into the person He wants us to be. In this world we will encounter chaos, disorder, and the unexpected. Yet, we must remember that God is ALWAYS PRESENT with us in those moments. Just because He doesn’t change the situation, doesn’t mean He doesn’t love us or we are doing something wrong. We need to always remember, that He is with us even in the midst of the chaos.

THANK YOU for reading my blog and being a part of what God is doing. To find out more about our ministry in Guatemala, head to our website: www.graciaministries.com 

Praising in the Hallway

  

This January, two of our supporting/home churches started 21 days of prayer and fasting. As I prayed about how/what to do during this time, the Lord spoke clearly to me that He wanted my worship for one hour each morning of the 21 days from 5am-6am. (Uff. I'm not REALLY an early morning person, so this definitely wasn't my idea!!). So, I've been setting my alarm and dragging myself out of bed (sometimes really physically dragging) to worship each morning. 

Honestly, there have been some really GREAT overwhelming worship moments and there have been some days that have just been meh... However, every single day God has spoken in some way to my heart. 

 Today, I was singing along with a worship service from Gateway Church (This is the video link to the worship service: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4PYmNQ2MMY ) and at the 53:40 mark they start singing "The Goodness of God". This is a song that keeps "popping" up during my worship times. Every single playlist or service I have listened to has had this song in it without me knowing ahead of time. I had to laugh when the song started. (Yes, Lord. I hear you). 

 

During the song, the singer shares a bit and talks about the phrase "when God closes a door, you worship in the hallway until He opens the next door". It's a phrase that I've heard before, but today it hit me in a different way. I realized... that's EXACTLY what I'm doing. That's what I've been doing. That's what I WILL CONTINUE TO DO. 

As many of you, I too had other plans when the pandemic started in March 2020. Raul and I were looking forward to launching an afterschool Christ-centered art and worship program in May 2020 at the local public school. We were busy putting things in order, writing curriculum, and getting ready to launch, BUT... COVID. 

If you haven't read about my unexpected COVID adventure, I invite you to go back and read the past posts. Short story, I got stuck and separated from my husband for seven months in the States before finally making it back to Guatemala. Face-to-face classes were cancelled in March 2020 and are STILL cancelled at the local public school where we serve. EVERYTHING we had planned for was put on hold... and still is on hold. Anyone in a similar place? 

BUT... GOD. In the past two years, we have been "worshiping in the hallway". We couldn't hold our worship academy activities at the school, BUT we have had opportunities to serve the teachers who are still there working and pour into them during this difficult season. We haven't been able to put the curriculum and all of our preparations into practice, BUT we have been able to start constructing on our land nearby which will one day house our ministry and be a place where we can have activities with our students. We haven't been able to do what we expected to do, BUT we have been able to do what God had planned for us to do during this season. 

See, the pandemic HAS NOT changed God's goodness. Having to put our plans and our ideas on hold HAS NOT changed God's goodness. The death, sickness, and frustrations we have all experienced during this pandemic HAS NOT changed God's goodness. He is STILL GOOD and He is still WORTHY of our praise. 

When we lift up praise despite what we see/feel, we are literally offering a sacrifice of praise. It's not natural, it's not something that we usually "want" to do, but HE IS WORTHY. So, I want to encourage you... PRAISE HIM IN THE HALLWAY. I imagine things don't look like what we expected them to look like. I imagine we would all change things in our lives right now if we could... BUT, GOD.  Praise Him. Lift up praise to Him. 

 It is important to understand that praise is not some kind of magic lamp that we use to get God to do what we want. We aren't praising Him with one eye open to see how He changes the situation or how He moves on our behalf. Yes, it can happen. God still does miracles. However, I have found that praise usually changes US and realigns OUR perspective so that we can continue to walk forward in the situation. 

 So, I want to invite you to the hallway with me today (you're probably already here). Let us PRAISE HIM today. Maybe you can't think of anything you want to praise Him for. That's ok. I find that putting on worship music and letting it lead me can be helpful when I don't know where to start. He is still good. He is still worthy. Let us praise Him in the hallway. 

If you're interested in finding out more about our ministry in Guatemala, check out our website: www.graciaministries.com

   

The Grace of Grief

As many of you know, my mother passed away on December 30, 2020 after a brave battle against dementia. As we're progressing through this new year, we are being faced with many "firsts" without her. In February, I had my first birthday withough hearing my mama tell me "Happy Birthday". Now, I am experiencing my first Mother's Day without my mama. 

Mother's Day in the United States is celebrated the second Sunday in  May. Mother's Day in Guatemala is ALWAYS on May 10th. This year, Mother's Day in the States falls on May 9th. So, this year I was facing not one... but two Mother's Days.. back to back without my mama. As May approached, a sense of dread grew in my heart. Two Mother's Days back-to-back plus my mama's birthday is May 18th. I sent a text to my sister asking her if we could just skip the month of May all together. My sister reminded me that there was still good in May... by oldest nephew celebrates his birthday on May 8th. I needed that reminder in that moment. I needed to see the good in the midst of the grief. 

Growing up, I assumed that losing a parent would be the most soul crushing heavy grief that would leave you completely incapacitated and unable to function whatsoever. However, in my personal grief journey I have to say... there is a grace that exists in grief. Yes, there are countless breathless, heavy, unable to function, full-body shaking sobbing moments... especially in the beginning. Yet, they come in waves. Initially the waves come frequently, one after another, but in between the waves there is grace. In between the waves there are moments to do what is necessary... to take a breath... to eat something... to enjoy the stars in the backyard. With time those moments come more frequently and the grief waves come less regularly... all though the grief waves start to come in a more unexpected pattern and are triggered in unforeseen ways.

Mother's Day in Guatemala is an INCREDIBLY HUGE DEAL. There are celebrations, homemade fireworks in the wee hours of the morning, loud music, food, cake, and a million "free gifts" handed out at stores. Over the past few days, I have been planning how to avoid being smacked in the face by Mother's Day. I've been avoiding social media and muting the tv as needed. I had planned to keep a low profile and not visit anywhere that may be handing out free gifts to mothers.  

 

This morning, I headed out for my run a little earlier than usual to avoid the heat of the sun. I was enjoying a quieter than normal run and was on the way back towards the house. As I was about a mile from home, I began to hear music (over the music in my headphones). I assumed it was coming from one of the houses in celebration of Mother's Day. However, as I ran the music slowly got louder... and louder... and louder. I realized that the source of the music was coming up behind me. 

 As I looked over my shoulder, I realized that the source of the music was a Mother's Day caravan of five flatbed trucks fully decorated with speakers blaring music and announcing that there were Mother's Day baskets being handed out from the mayor of our town. The trucks were moving only slightly faster than I was running. As the caravan slowly inched passed me, the drivers were honking and waving. They obviously thought I was a mother (I was also the ONLY female person on the road that morning).They were blaring cheezy Mother's Day music and... well... I am grateful that I was all ready bright red and sweaty... because I started to ugly cry. Boom. An unexpected wave of grief. I thought about pulling my phone out of my running pack to turn up the volume of my music, or even run in the opposite direction... but I couldn't. I just started to walk and cry. Slowly the Mother's Day caravan pulled away from me and was out of sight. 

When I made it home, I told one of my best friends about the Mother's Day caravan. Before she realized that it had bothered me, she responded with a laughing GIF. That's when it hit me... THAT WAS FUNNY. I realized how funny it actually was that I had been "ambushed" by the Mother's Day caravan. Here I was planning to avoid all things Mother's Day.. and I got AMBUSED BY THE MOTHER'S DAY CARAVAN. I had to laugh out loud. I next

told my sister, and her response was "why do I hear the theme song to Jaws?" Ha ha ha.... That was it. That's exactly what it was like... the Mother's Day caravan came sneaking up on me like Jaws sneaking up on the next unexpecting victim. I hadn't even seen it coming up behind me... I just heard the ominous music. I totally came to see the humor in the moment. My mama would have thought it was hilarious. 

I recently read a post from a friend whose toddler daughter unexpectedly passed away in her sleep. In the post, the author explained that grief and gratitude can exist at the same time. We can be grieving and still enjoy moments and days of laughter while still holding the heaviness of grief in our hearts. We can still take joy in things while our souls ache and grieve the loss of someone we loved. That is part of the grace of grief. Grief is a weird emotion... it comes and goes in unexpected waves. However, if we take a breath and look around we can find the grace that exists in the midst of grief. Even if it comes as a Mother's Day ambush.

Unplanned and Unexpected (My Pandemic Story)- Part 2

 ....continued from previous post (Check out Part 1)

After being "trapped" Stateside for two hundred days due to the pandemic, I decided I would spend my last night at a friend's house in Virginia. I would be flying out of Norfolk, VA and my flight was scheduled to leave at 7am. The night before my flight it started to rain… and it rained… and it rained… and it rained. When we awoke in the morning, there was widespread flooding throughout the Hampton Roads area.

When we left the house that morning at 4:30am to head to the airport, we didn’t realize the extent of the flooding, until we decided to detour around one of the tunnels and cut through a low-lying neighborhood. As we saw the water covering the roadway, we thought it was just a little water so we continued on through… but the water got deeper… and deeper… and as we looked ahead we saw cars stranded ahead of us in the water. My friend stopped her car and wanted to turn around. I quickly realized that that was not an option as there were cars behind us and the water was deeper on the edges of the roadway. I encouraged my friend to keep moving forward all though I honestly wasn’t sure it was the right decision.

My AWESOME friend

She started to pray out loud as we inched deeper into the water. I joined her in prayer. As we moved forward, the water got deeper. As the water got deeper. we prayed louder.

I was sure the water was going to start coming in the bottom of the doors as I watched the cars in front of us. There were cars stalling all around us, and I began to doubt that I would be making it to the airport. I began to think that I would not make it home, that I would be delayed… again. I began to feel something like a righteous anger rise up in me, and I felt an urge to pray against this hinderance and declare that THIS WOULD NOT DETER ME.

As we turned off the main road and onto a side road, waves of water were surrounding the car. The engine started to sputter and I kept telling my friend to “stay on the gas”. “I am. I am. The car is dying,” she replied. We kept praying as I felt the car slow. No. No. This is not how this story ends. I cannot miss this flight. I had been stranded in the United States for 200 days, and I was not waiting another day to go home. We continued to pray. We could see the entrance to the interstate ahead. Should we get on the interstate? I was worried about getting on the interstate and the car dying in the tunnel. How would we get help if we were in the tunnel? The car continued to move slowly forward as the lights and alarms sounded on the dashboard and I held my breath.

I encouraged my friend to pull into a gas station near the entrance to the interstate. We pulled in and tried to decide what we would do. We kept praying as I tried to call an Uber or a Lyft but NOTHING was available. No one could get to where we were. I was worried about my friend's car... what kind of damage had we done trying to get through that water? Time continued moving forward, and I was worried about not making it to the airport on time. 

My friend was willing to try to make it to the airport. The entrance to the interstate was close, and there was no flooding on the interstate. In my spirit, I felt an urging to move and go forward. So we decided to take a chance.

As we puttered up the interstate ramp I fought against the idea of being stuck in the tunnel. I prayed against permanent damage to my friend’s car. I prayed that we would make it to the airport. While I was praying, I was reminded of all the times God had protected me over the past five years in Guatemala. I heard Him whisper to my heart “you don’t think I’ve got this?”. I laughed out loud and continued praying as we slowly began to pick up speed.

At the Airport

When we took the exit to the airport, I was laughing, crying, and praying all at the same time. I almost couldn’t believe it when we pulled up in front of the airport and stopped. I had made it to the airport. We drove through a flood, and we made it to the airport.

I unloaded my bags, hugged my friend, and entered the airport crying tears of relief. I continued crying as I checked my bags and realized that I WAS FINALLY GOING HOME.

I cried again in Dallas when I saw the sign that said Guatemala City at my gate.

However, I cried the hardest when after 200 days apart, I walked out of the airport in Guatemala City and into the arms of my husband. I clung to him as the tears of frustration and fear fell all around us. I WAS FINALLY HOME.

REUNITED

200 days apart from my husband. God did so many miracles during those 200 days. He gifted me time with my family. He gifted me memories and experiences that I wouldn’t have had. He put me with the right people at the right time to help me make it through the darkness. He brought me through a flood and protected my friend’s car from ANY damage whatsoever (no lights, no alarms, NOTHING). He strengthened and grew my marriage in ways that I still can’t explain.

But God’s not done yet. It’s November, and we’re still in the midst of this pandemic. There is still uncertainty and darkness lurking all around. BUT… GOD. He has been with us every step of this pandemic… through the joy, through the tears, through the laughter, through the moments when we didn’t think we could take anymore. He will be there tomorrow. We don’t know what tomorrow holds, but He does and HE IS GOOD.

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog. I appreciate your friendship, prayers and support. To find out more about our ministry in Guatemala, check out our website: www.newstrengthgt.com 

-Meaghen

Unplanned and Unexpected (My Pandemic Story) - Part 1

When I traveled to the United States on March 3, 2020, I only planned to stay in the States for three weeks and return home to Guatemala on March 24, 2020. I had no idea that what started as a three-week journey would turn into a two-hundred-day rollercoaster ride of emotions, faith, and personal growth.

Sisters :) 

When the President of Guatemala announced that he would close the borders of the country on March 16, 2020 my husband and I made the decision that I would stay in the United States. My husband, my home, our ministry, and our lives were all left behind in Guatemala. However, we couldn’t imagine that the borders would be closed for more than a month at most. I was staying with my sister in Pennsylvania and helping her and her husband by caring for my two nephews. I didn’t want to leave my sister on such short notice, and at the time most media sites were reporting that COVID-19 was just a “flu-like disease” that wouldn’t have a large impact on the majority.

Slowly the days transformed into weeks. My original flight home was cancelled and rescheduled for May. After hanging up the phone with the airline, panic began to consume me as I felt uncertainty, frustration, and despair swirling around me. The tears came with gasping sobs as I felt trapped and alone. Despite being with my family, I had no “escape”. I couldn’t get home. Leaving the house was dangerous and uncertain as the news reported the latest information on the spread of the virus, and information was constantly changing. It was still too early to understand how the virus spread from person to person and some believed that the virus lived on surfaces for extended times.  

Wearing our "masks" 

I took refuge in prayer, in worship, and in exercise. Each morning I tried to start the day with worship music and stretching. I tried to leave the house in the afternoons to run and hike in the neighborhood surrounding the house.  We had spontaneous dance parties with my nephews and tried to laugh as much as possible. In the midst of the unknown, there were so many moments with my family that served as beacons of hope that kept me moving forward. 

March turned into April, which edged into May. There was still no news of border openings. Each Sunday evening the President of Guatemala would announce the latest policy changes, and each Sunday there was no mention of reopening borders or the airport. Darkness and uncertainty hid at the edges of my emotions and engulfed me in unexpected moments. There was more than one tear-filled phone call between my husband and I during those months expressing frustration and uncertainty. Each time we would listen and attempt to encourage each other in the hopes that we would be reunited shortly.

As May came to a close, my flight was once again cancelled and pushed back into June. Guatemala saw growing unrest as many had been without work for months and subsequently unable to feed their families. Many took to the streets begging for food and necessities at intersections. My husband single-handedly spearheaded and executed a small food distribution through our ministry.

With no news on the border reopening coming out of Guatemala, I decided to relocate to my father’s house in North Carolina. My father lives minutes from the Outer Banks where I grew up. The ocean has always been a place of healing for me, and if I couldn’t go home to Guatemala I wanted to be near the ocean.

As summer started on the Outer Banks, I decided to take a side job working retail to keep myself occupied and distracted. June merged into July and with it two more flight cancellations. Each time a flight date would approach, I would try not to get my hopes up. I would watch the Sunday Presidential announcements with hope that this would be the week that the airport would reopen, to be engulfed in despair and uncertainty with the realization that I would not be returning this time. I found myself in tears at work, and more than once in the arms of my supporting coworkers. My coworkers tried to keep my spirits up, and I now know why God placed me in that place during this time.

My Dad

My father and I passed countless hours fishing. During the pandemic, I spent time with my family that I will forever treasure. I poured out my heart in worship and prayer when I felt that I could not handle anymore. God was always faithful in those moments to lift my head, encourage my heart, and bring the comfort I needed. My husband and I continued to share our frustrations, joys, and sorrows in our daily phone calls and messages.

July changed into August and another flight cancellation. Tears poured out as uncertainty once again engulfed me. I began to explore alternative ways to enter Guatemala as the airports in Mexico had never shutdown and I was familiar with the Mexico border crossing. My husband encouraged me to keep waiting as I calculated the risks.

Slowly the whispers started and the news started to trickle in that there was a new date for the airport to reopen. News sources started to pick up the story and began reporting that the airport would reopen September 18, 2020. Guatemala was expected to open it’s borders. I was cautiously optimistic and still remember waiting for that Sunday’s Presidential announcements. There had been potential opening dates in the past and each time, the dates were pushed back. My flight at the time was for September 9^th.  On Sunday, September 6^th, the President announced that they were preparing to open the airport on September 18^th, and if preparations were completed in time they would do so. 

I squealed and jumped and ran through the house celebrating!! "They're going to open the airport! They're going to open the airport!" I yelled.  IT WAS OFFICIAL!! I WAS GOING  HOME.

Keep reading about my crazy journey home in my next post.... 

THIS is a move of God...

Today during the online church service, we sang a song that contained the words “This is a move… this is a move…” and I felt compelled to share what God showed me as we sang those words. 

As we sang, I heard the Lord say, “THIS is a move… THIS is a move… The virus, the racial tensions and uprisings, the tearing down of statues, the on-going feelings of chaos, the ever-growing divisions, not being able to assemble as we would like… THIS is a move of God.” I immediately thought… God… This doesn’t look or feel like what I would associate with a move of God.  

Yet, then I realized that God is permitting each of these things to pass in this season. God is allowing things to be shaken. He is breaking things off. He is seeing what is important to us. He is proving us. He is seeing how we truly view others… if we truly put others ahead of ourselves. He is putting our relationships with Him to the test. He is seeing how we act when we can’t be in the church building. He is seeing how we react when others don’t share similar viewpoints. He is seeing how we love when others don’t share similar histories.

And honestly… we (collectively) are failing. We are shouting for “rights and privileges” over protecting the lives of the vulnerable. We are converting real living breathing human lives into mere numbers and minimizing the value of the loss of even a SINGLE human life. We are boldly proclaiming religious persecution yet don’t even take the time to worship God in own homes. We are minimizing the experiences of our brothers and sisters of color and are failing to see the need to learn from their personal experiences. We are seeing those with different opinions on matters as our sworn enemies and viciously attacking them. We are putting leaders, politics, policies, and personal “freedoms” on a pedestal and defending them with “knee-jerk reactions”. We (collectively) are failing.

To echo the words of Pastor Dan Backens, “Our love is on trial”. Our love is on trial and we are failing. God is permitting our love to be tested, and we can’t see past our own selves to love those who don’t look like us, who don’t agree with us, or who don’t share similar histories as us. Our love is on trial and we are failing.

So, how is this a move of God? God is permitting all of this to happen. He is permitting a shaking… a shifting… a sifting. He is permitting us to be shaken to see what is really on the inside of us. He is exposing the worst parts of humanity right now as a wake-up call. He is seeing what it is that we really hold to be important. However, many of us are too distracted with our politics, our freedoms, and our own personal narratives to see what is happening. God is on the move, and we don’t see it. We are permitting ourselves to be divided along every line possible instead of holding onto love and loving others as ourselves.

The Bible is full of verses about love. I am sure we could spend hours quoting them. We all know that we are called to “love one another” and “all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13-25-36 NASB). But… how are we living this right now? Are we loving like Jesus loved us? Would someone know we were disciples if they judged us only on our love? If our love is on trial, then what is the verdict for our life?

I believe that THIS is a move of God. God is permitting a shaking. He is sifting us. He is seeing what REALLY lies within our hearts… what we REALLY hold important. And the truth is… we (collectively) are failing. However, it’s not too late. Let us realign with Him today. Let us lay aside those things we have put on a pedestal. Let us lay down our banners and affiliations, and remember we are called first to love. Love like He loved us. THIS is a move of God.

Stuck on Saturday...

I have been “marinating” on putting into words what the Lord has been speaking to me as I have been crying out to Him over the past week. What follows is those efforts.

Stuck on Saturday

This past week, we celebrated Holy Week as the commemoration and celebration of Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection from the grave. At my home church in Virginia, New Life Church, we hold a special Good Friday service known as a Tenebrae service (Latin for darkness).

A Tenebrae service is a very solemn service in which congregants are asked to focus on their sin and ultimately their own responsibility in Jesus’ crucifixion. As the service progresses, lights in the sanctuary are slowly extinguished until there is total darkness. The service is symbolic of the death and burial of Christ and it’s very heavy spiritually.

One leaves the service feeling the weight of their own sin and the heaviness of the realization that our personal sins sent Christ to the cross. However, despite that heaviness, a flame of hope still flickers knowing that Sunday is coming and with it the resurrection and celebration.

As I passed through the Tenebrae service and into Saturday, I began to ponder… what was that first Saturday of Holy Week like? What were the disciples and the other followers of Christ feeling and thinking after watching Him be savagely crucified and then buried? I imagined the doubt, the confusion, the anguish, the fear… they had just seen the Savior of the world crucified… but now what?!! What were they going to do? Where were they going to go? Why was this happening? Where was God?!!

I see such a parallel between that first Saturday of Holy Week and where we are currently as we navigate the COVID-19 pandemic. All around us is doubt.. insecurity.. fear.. We are questioning God’s goodness.. Why did this have to happen? Where is He in the midst of this? What are we going to do? We are worried about our livelihoods, our families, our friends, and uncertainty abounds. How long will this last?!!

We are stuck on Saturday. Just like that first Saturday of Holy Week. We are stuck in a place of the unknown where we aren’t really sure what’s going to happen next. All around panic, doubt, and fear are circling like sharks. What do we do?

We have an advantage over the early Christians that were experiencing that first Saturday. We KNOW that His crucifixion was NOT the end of the story. We KNOW that He WILL RISE again. We KNOW that His death was NOT the final chapter.

So, what do we do? We feed the flame. That tiny flame flickering inside that tells us we WILL come out on the other side of this pandemic. We stoke the fire. We hang on with everything we’ve got to the hope that WE KNOW that Sunday IS coming.

For me, I stoke my fire through worship. Putting on whatever song strikes me and just worshiping Him each day, pouring out my heart while taking a walk in the sunshine, or just sitting silently and gratefully in His presence. I am limiting my time on social media and the news, and reminding myself that HE IS STILL IN CONTROL. 

For you, it may look differently. But however it looks, keep feeding that flame of hope. Keep clinging to the hope that Sunday IS coming. All though we may be walking through the unknown, NOTHING is unknown to HIM.

Thank you for taking time to read my blog. If you would like to give financially to our ministry in Guatemala, please click the link: www.newstrengthgt.com/donate 

A Buoy on the Water

  This past weekend, my organization held a missionary retreat at a beach house on the Pacific coast. A precious team of individuals came from Canada to minister to us over the course of the weekend. It

Our GORGEOUS retreat site

was the fourth time that this specific team from Canada had come to minister at the retreat, and each of the members of the Canadian team has held a special place in my heart since meeting them four years ago.

  During the first session, the speaker challenged us to go “all in”. He challenged us to consider what it would look like if we went “all in” in every aspect of our lives (including our relationships with God) and to consider any obstacles which may be keeping us from going “all in”. At the end of the session, he challenged us to take a prophetic action to symbolize us going “all in”. He suggested jumping into the pool, or another symbolic act that would serve as a declaration that we were committing to go “all in”. I was undecided as to what action I would take and decided to let the Holy Spirit show me what to do.

 Following the first session, a friend and I walked out to the beach to talk. We shared our hearts, tears, doubts, fears, and plans for the future. As the conversation started drawing towards an end, something caught my eye in the water. Literally riding on top of the waves as if being pushed from behind was a buoy. This buoy was on a direct course towards us. It was being “pushed” at a remarkable speed and was being picked up by each passing wave and heading directly towards us.

The Beach

As I watched the buoy I heard the speaker’s words echo in my mind “will you go “all in”?”. Without missing a beat, I yelled “I’m going in. I’m going “all in”” and I jumped into the water and began to run towards the buoy as it in turn headed towards me. As I ran towards the buoy I realized that there were other missionaries on the beach watching this incident and briefly imagined what they may be thinking. I also considered briefly what would happen if the water got deeper before I reached the buoy (I was wearing regular clothing) but quickly decided that I would swim if needed to reach this buoy (having grown up on the beach swimming is not an issue for me).

Fortunately, swimming was not required all though my shorts definitely showed evidence of going “all in”. I grabbed the buoy and turned to walk out of the water with my “treasure from the sea”. As I walked out of the water, a smile spread on my friend’s face. “I’m not sure what this is all about, “ I said, “but I heard the words “will you go “all in”” and so I did.”

I carried the buoy back to the beach house and retold the story of seeing the buoy and hearing the words that sent me running into the waves. I received various words over what the event symbolized and decided to keep the buoy as a keepsake and a reminder to go “all in”.

If you know me, you know I have the tendency to do “crazy things”. Honestly jumping in the ocean

The Buoy

and chasing down a buoy is not something that most people would have a hard time imagining me doing. However, even I… a usually confident extrovert… did have some doubts in the midst of the stepping out. I thought about what the other missionaries would think/say. I worried about the depth of the water and getting my clothes wet. And honestly… some of the reactions of disbelief/”that’s silly” jabbed at my confidence a slight bit. I did think.. maybe this is just a “crazy thing”…

However, sometimes GOD CALLS US TO DO CRAZY THINGS… He calls us to step out… sometimes making a “fool of ourselves”… sometimes to be critiqued by other believers… to call us to go “all in”.

So, what about you? Are you willing to go “all in”? What would that look like for you? What may be holding you back? Are you concerned about what others may think/say?

Don’t be. Go all in. You won’t regret it.

…and maybe you’ll even get a funky buoy to put on a shelf to remind you of the crazy adventure that God has you on.

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog. I appreciate having you on this journey with me.

-Meaghen

Who Am I... REALLY??

Who Am I… REALLY??

At Source of Hope we have four “I AM” statements that we use as teaching points during our class times and devotional times throughout the week. They are “I am clean”, “I am chosen”, “I am a child of God”, and “I am powerful”.  Each student at the school has a copy of these statements on a set of

The four "I AM" Statement cards

laminated cards that many of them wear on a lanyard around their necks. Honestly, sometimes we feel a little odd repeating the same values week after week and we find ourselves wondering if the students are actually “getting it”.

This Wednesday as we were preparing for our weekly discipleship group with the 7^th-9^th graders, Juanita, a third-grade student, walked into the missionary office.  Juanita often pops in to “help” us set up for devotional times or just to hang out after school for a bit. Like many of our students Juanita comes from a difficult family situation and she has faced numerous obstacles in her short life. A few years ago, Juanita’s father was murdered, and her mother abandoned her when the burden of raising her and her siblings became too great. Juanita came to the village to live with her aunt and started attending Source of Hope.

Playing Games during
Discipleship Groups

As Juanita was “helping” us prepare for the discipleship group, I explained to her that we were going to be talking about our identities, and more specifically our true identities (who God says we are). So, I asked Juanita… What is your true identity? Who are you REALLY? Without missing a beat, Juanita started rattling off the four “I AM” statements and telling me that she is a child of God, she is clean, she is powerful, and that she is chosen. Hearing those declarations coming from her mouth made me stop in my tracks.. and made me realize…

YES. THEY ARE GETTING IT. Despite all that she’s been through, she KNOWS WHO SHE REALLY IS. Despite all the other “identities” she could assume… abandoned, rejected, unwanted… she knows that her Heavenly Father loves her with an unconditional love and will NEVER reject her. He’s revealing His heart to them.

Susana is currently in 8^th grade at Source of Hope. Susana’s father abandoned her and her mother shortly after Susana was born because Susana was not born a male. Her father wanted a son, not a daughter. Growing up, Susana has struggled with feelings of worthlessness and her identity. She blamed herself and thought of herself as a mistake. However, Susana tells us that today she KNOWS that she is NOT a mistake. She KNOWS that she is a chosen child of God and that God has a plan for her life. Susana wants to graduate and study to become an attorney. Susana says she wants to help fight for children’s rights. She wants fathers to be involved in their children’s lives, and she feels that her experience with her own father will help her relate to others in similar situations.

Two Precious Daughters of the King

Often times, like Juanita and Susana we let ourselves be identified by our family situations, a painful past, what others say or have said about us, our jobs, our educational levels, or many things that are often outside of our own control. However, our TRUE identities lie in WHO GOD SAYS WE ARE…. He says that we are His children, we are loved, our pasts are forgiven, we have purpose, we are not mistakes, and that we have a future. Let us cling to that identity despite what the other voices may say. Let us remember our TRUE IDENTITIES and who we REALLY ARE.

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog. I hope it ministers to your heart, as it ministers to mine as I write it. Thank you for being with me on this journey.

In the midst of fire...

June 3, 2018 fell on a Sunday. Around three that afternoon my husband, Raul, lay napping in the bed and I lay beside him reading a book. We were enjoying a lazy Sunday afternoon and preparing to gear up for the week ahead. I had tried to take a nap, but found myself unable to fall asleep.

When I started hearing the sirens, I barely noticed them. Sirens are a common occurrence here and unlike in the United States, they don’t always signify an emergency vehicle or any type of cause of alarm. (The ice cream man has his own siren here). It was when I started hearing the screams that the noise caught my attention. At first, I thought maybe there was a parade passing in front of our house. Parades here are also very common and it was a Catholic holiday on this day. Except, there was something different about these screams. These screams sounded terrified.

Our rental house is surrounded by a 12-foot concrete wall and one must walk approximately fifty yards across the garden to reach the gate that leads to the road in front of the house. As soon as I walked out the front door of the house, I saw it… a cloud that I still lack the words to adequately describe.

Living and working at the foot of an active volcano, one becomes accustomed to clouds of ash, tremors, explosions, and all sorts of “normal” volcanic activity on almost a daily basis. It is not uncommon for the volcano to shake the homes and buildings nearby or to puff out ash clouds from time to time. However, this cloud was NOT a normal ash cloud.

This dark brown churning cloud sent a chill down to my soul… it reached approximately 5 kilometers into the air, and was bearing down on us with a fury stronger than any southern thunderhead I had seen in my life… however… what was more terrifying was the fact that I could see that this cloud was actually COMING UP from the ground as it FLOWED down the riverbed that is approximately ½ mile from our home. This was not an ash cloud at all. I later learned that this was a pyroclastic flow which is a mixture of superheated gases (up to 1200 degrees Celsius), mud, and volcanic debris that can travel at speeds up to 200mph, can climb hills and riverbanks, and carbonizes any living thing caught in it’s path. I began screaming for Raul.

“Something bad is happening. We need to GO NOW!” I yelled. Raul, waking up from his slumber joined me on the porch and in a very relaxed and calm manner declared that it was JUST an ash cloud and we should just go inside and wait for it to pass over us. I, on the other hand, went into “emergency mode”, grabbed important documents, the dogs, and yelled for Raul to get in the truck. I tried to explain in rather poor Spanish (apparently stress effects my ability to speak Spanish) that this WAS NOT an ash cloud as it was coming UP FROM the ground and that I thought it was lava which was flowing in the riverbed now approximately 500 yards IN FRONT of our house. He must have noticed something in my frantic actions and/or inability to put words together in complete sentences and decided it was best to go along with my crazy plan. This video starts near the entrance to our house: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21t5Sh1dLg4  

When he opened the large gate to the house, what we saw in the street looked like a scene out of horror film. People filling the street, screaming, running for their lives… running from the giant cloud that was moving ever closer to us with each passing second. The screaming sirens, the sounds of people shouting, people screaming for help… all combined into a web of chaos as I had never previously experienced. As soon as we pulled the truck through the gate and into the road, we were surrounded by people begging for help.. begging for a ride. I yelled… “Get in!!” and people piled in as Raul shut the gate to the house. With approximately 15 people in the bed of the pickup truck, we quickly joined the flood of vehicles and people fleeing away from the quickly descending cloud. All I could think was “Is this real? Is this really happening? When am I going to wake up from this dream?”

We drove past crowds of people running, people begging for rides, and people crying out for help as we put distance in between ourselves and the giant cloud which still seemed to be getting closer to us despite us driving in the opposite direction. The people in the back of the truck were wailing, screaming, and crying out as we slowly moved ahead of the cloud.

When we reached Escuintla (about 8 miles away), we pulled into a McDonalds to let the people out of the pickup. That’s when we realized.. there was a badly burned woman and toddler that had been in the back of the pickup truck. (Graphic description to follow)*** The woman’s flesh was charred black and was peeling off of her arms, face, and chest as she sat propped up against the tailgate shaking and screaming with her arms in the air. Her clothing had melted to her. Her two year old daughter was in a similar state. Their screams filled the air surrounding the truck. ***The other people begged us to take her to the hospital (as if that was even an option in my mind). We immediately agreed to take them to the hospital.

 As we were about to pull off, three young boys who had also been in the truck came running up to the window crying hysterically. They explained that they had run from their home and jumped in the truck to get away. They said that their family, including their mother and siblings, had not fled their home and were still inside. We told them that we would take them to the hospital as well, and find someone to help them there.

Let’s just say that my experience as a police officer once again came in handy as we drove to the hospital in the most “efficient” manner possible. When we pulled into the emergency entrance, the crowd in front of the hospital turned and stared with mouths agape. As we explained to the onlookers, doctors, and nurses what had happened we quickly realized that they had no idea that there had been an eruption at all. We were the first to arrive from the scene of the eruption.

The badly burned young woman and toddler were carried inside, and a team of individuals quickly came to comfort the three young boys who had fled with us in the pickup. The young boys were embraced and reassured that everything would be done to reunite them with their families.  

As silence fell inside the truck, Raul and I just looked at each other… What now? We decided to go to a nearby shopping center and relax for a moment to gather our thoughts.

As we made phone calls and realized that we would NOT be returning to the house anytime soon, our support system of missionaries, friends, and family went into action. We immediately were invited to stay at a friend’s house in San Lucas, we were provided with clothes, toiletries, and basic items (we left with just the clothes on our backs). People rallied around us offering help from all directions. We were initially overwhelmed with the outpouring of support we received.

In front of the house. Volcano Fuego
can be seen over the rooftops. The curve
down the road is where COMPLETE
destruction took place. 

As the days passed, reality hit. There were tears, frustration, and confusion about what the next step should/would be. We did not know if we even had a home to return to. It was not until around the third day that we actually saw the front gate of the house on a newscast and it appeared that there had only been ash in front of the house. I literally jumped up and down screaming “We have a house!! We have a house!!”

We decided early on that we would not be able to return to live in our rental house. We knew that we would be in constant fear of another eruption and for our own safety and well-being we would need to find another home. However, we would try to get our belongings out of the house.

Over the past few weeks, we have been blessed to find a new rental house in a neighborhood about 25 minutes farther away from the volcano (that has access to waterparks!!). We have made three trips (with the help of brave friends) to move items from our previous house to the new house. We still have some things that we have yet to move.

Debris from the lahares following the eruption

The area where our previous rental house is located has been deemed uninhabitable and we have had to be very careful due to lahares (flows of boiling mud, large rocks, and volcanic material) that have also been flowing through the area of the previous house.

So, as I have had time to reflect on all that has happened in the past few weeks, I have asked God to show me where he was in the midst of the fire.. where was He when we were running for our lives from our house? Where was He when there was a burned woman and baby in the back of the truck? Where was He?

….and… He has shown me.. HE was right there with us… He showed me that HE used us to save the lives of that young woman and her toddler… He showed me that we were His hands for those we carried with us in the back of the truck... He is the one who kept me from falling asleep so that I would hear the sirens and screams and that we would be able to flee in time… He has been with us as our friends have been His hands and feet providing us clothes, toiletries, and a place to stay… and He CONTINUES to be with us as we return to a “new normal” of life. Even in the midst of the fire… GOD IS WITH US.

As we navigate the next few weeks, we continue to be ever so grateful for our support system, our friends, our families, and all of those who have reached out and prayed for us. THANK YOU. Thank you for your generosity, for reaching out to help, for being there to listen, and just for being good to us.  THANK YOU.

Blessings,

Meaghen