Suffering now, joy later. I guess that's why dessert comes last.

OK, here's one of my little secrets. One of my favorite things about being an adult is that no one, well at least most people, don't tell me I can't have dessert first. If I want to have a little something sweet before dinner and ruin my appetite. I can. I never had that privilege as a kid and I enjoy that freedom now.

I wish the rest of life was so simple. There are days when I can look at Michael's picture and smile for the joy knowing him has brought to my life and the ways I have grown because of loving him. And then there are days when I just cry. There is a very sweet little boy in my neighborhood who comes over to play. He is black and about Michael's age. I love it when he is at our house. I can taste a little of what it would be like to have Michael here.

Whether now or later, I will be with him someday. And I do have deep joy knowing he is loved and cared for where he is. And, he knows I love him too. 

A new leg of the journey

"This is not the way I would have chosen" is a line from a Ginny Owens song that I just posted in the side bar to my blog. Her song captures my journey. And now, a new adventure. 

My husband, Mark, and our friend, Pastor Peter Flomo, have embarked on a mission called Teamwork Africa. 

Teamwork Africa is dedicated to planting churches and resourcing them to meet the spiritual and physical needs of their communities in the interior of Liberia, West Africa.

 We are very excited to partner with The Last Well in this project. We are also sponsoring children that have lost their fathers and their families are in Our goal is to start 10 church plants in the interior of Liberia. Many of these communities don't have clean drinking water, so one of our top priorities is a well or biosand filters. We also sponsor children whose fathers have died and their families are in desperate poverty. To find out about these and other projects, go to: http://teamworkafrica.blogspot.com/