“I want to set the world on fire, until it’s burning bright for You.”

Set the World on Fire by Brit Nicole is a beautiful song and one that started a fire in me.  I first heard the song several years ago and it made me want to become a world-changer.  I listened to it with my dearest friend, Madyline DiCocco.  We listened to it again…and then again.  I have no idea how many times we rewound it, but it stuck with me.  I know every word…

It’s everything that I desire;
Can I be the one You use?

It burns in my heart still today.

I am small, but You are big enough.
I am weak, but You are strong enough to take my dreams,
Come and give them wings!
Oh Lord with You, there’s nothing I cannot do!

It is when I realize just how small and weak I am that God is best able to use me (check out 2 Corinthians 12:9).  My desire is to make a difference everywhere that I go.  I want a place to change just because I was there and I shine for my Father.  The song continues…

I want to feed the hungry children,
And reach across the farthest land.
To tell the broken there is healing,
And mercy in the Father’s hands.

He makes the impossible become possible.  He is the Giver and Fulfiller of dreams.  With Him, I can set the world on fire.

My hands, my feet, my everything!
My life, my love; Lord, use me!

I want every part of me to be used for His glory.  Being small or weak isn’t an excuse.  Give yourself fully to Him and wait to see what He’ll do.

“Just breathe and be still.  I’ll take care of you.”

That is what God spoke to my heart this week.  “Be still, daughter,” He said.  Never has life felt as unsure as it does right now.  We have no place that we can call “home” – though hopefully that will be changing shortly – and no car.  And it feels helpless.  Worry and doubt started knocking on my door.  How could things possibly go on like this?  Why does everything have to seem so difficult?  What could we – I – do differently?  And then came the answer: “Trust Me; I’ll take care of you.”  It seems so simple, but is not always easy to put it into practice.  “But God, people haven’t come through!  They haven’t kept their word!  Nobody seems trustworthy!  How can I be absolutely SURE that You are?”  Now God had a question for me: “Have I ever not kept My promises?”  I thought about it.  I thought about it some more.  After all that pondering, I came to the conclusion that the answer was no.  We have never actually gone hungry, though it has seemed like we would be without food many times.  Even though we are ready to have a place of our own, people have opened their homes up to my family and we have always had a roof over our heads.  Just when things began to feel overwhelming, just when it felt like the water was coming over my head, He came through.  God has always come through for me and always will.  Do you know how I know that?  It is because I know my Father, and I know His promises to me are all true.  He feeds the birds and clothes the lilies, and I matter so much more to Him than those things.  He knows what I need and He’ll care for me.  (check out Luke 12:22-32) The lesson I am learning is peace – of mind, of body, of heart, and of spirit.  In learning to walk in God’s forever peace, I am also learning to trust.  He’s got me covered, and because of that, I have nothing to worry about.

It’s Bug Season in South Africa!

Some call it summer, I just call it “bug season.” The intense heat has come again and with it all kinds of interesting bugs and little frogs (I call them “hoppy frogs,” and they are about the size of your pinky nail or smaller) and geckos. After having already lived here through one “bug season,” I have realized that, yes, there ARE things more icky than having a tiny gecko on your bedroom wall. In fact, if you have one in your room, you are less likely to be eaten alive by mosquitoes! (Mozies, people here call them.) Love the lizards! They are your friends! Upon first finding a gecko near my bed, I almost couldn’t sleep for being concerned that he would climb on me in the night and something terrible would happen, like the part from the movie The Parent Trap where a lizard went in the mean lady’s mouth! Nothing of the sort occurred however, I am pleased to tell you. Now I see my tiny friends as some very special little creations.