A Moment I Will Never Forget...

This was on my heart this morning...

I hope it blesses YOU...

 

Im not sure how old I was - I just know I was sad.

 

I was in college, working two jobs and living at home.  I loved living at home while I was in college!  I loved that it was a place of love and freedom where I could escape from the world.  I'm content alone; always have been.  There is something majestically freeing about sitting and just being with our own thoughts underneath the heavens.  It might just be my very favorite place, the place of being alone. 

 

The Lord was doing a work in my heart in this particular season - mostly realizing that guys who don't love Jesus aren't as fun as I thought they were.  I was adopting my faith as my own and calling my Heavenly Father my Daddy for the first time because I really wanted to, not because someone encouraged me to.  I was becoming wrestless with being alone but more importantly being alone in a season when the thought of a Godly husband just sounded heavenly.  Life continued though.  I found enjoyment in working, going to school and really just doing my own thing.  But one day I broke.  I'm 25, married and HAPPILY in love and yet I can rememebr this moment like it happened yesterday.  I still remember I was wearing my destroyed abercrombie jeans and a tank top!  Those jeans are still my absolute favorite :)  I was vacuuming at PALCS where my parents took on a cleaning job.  It was getting close to the end of the night and my mind was just racing.  I knew the evening would bring the same predictability as the one before and for some reason it hit me like it was my first time embracing those emotions.  My mom walked through the door to the room I was vacuuming.  She rounded the corner as I turned the vacuum off.  I took one look at her and just burst into tears.  She hugged me so quickly I don't think a moment passed between the quiver of my lip and her embrace.  Through the tears and the longing in my soul I muttered, "I'm never going to find a husband that loves Jesus."  Her embrace spoke a thousand words.  Words of comfort, words of truth, and most of all words that my Father in Heaven is and will continue to give me the very best.  Shortly after that embrace, my mom took my vacuum and scooted me out the door to get my PJ's on and to go relax at home.  I'm really not sure why this moment stuck with me for this many years, but it has.  I think because her Faith that the Lord would bless me with a Godly husband helped me to believe the same thing in many moments of despair.  My mom is amazing, absolutely positively the most amazing mom!  And the Godly truth she has spoken into me and over me fills me heart with such an everlasting joy!

 

I remember spending countless evenings with Corey talking about life, choices, seasons and why we do the things we do...

We would sit on his porch until one and two in the morning just talking about life...

For me he was like this wealth of wisdom and Godly presence (He still is!!)  Never did I think this man would propose to me....As he was dreaming of marrying a woman who loved Jesus, I was asking a lot of questions like "Do I love Jesus?"

Much to my honor and surprise. He proposed.  And my life has never been the same since that moment.  Everyday I am reminded that I married the most amazing man!  His love and pursuit for me is breath taking.  I am forever blessed and so madly in love with Corey Joel.

I love our life together!  I love that we drink coffee together on the weekends and listen to sermons on marriage and spiritual family.  I love that we are inseperable all weekend because the week seemed like such a long time of being apart :)  I love him.

 

Anyway, back to this moment  I was speaking of above.  The moment I will never forget...a moment of being spiritually mothered...

 

This past weekend I heard Phil talk about Spiritual Mothers and Fathers.  Always so blessed by Phil's words and nuggets of wisdom.  As I came home and processed and was reminded of the moment I shared above...I realized a few things about a mother, a spiritual mother:

 

They speak to the longings in your heart!

They cherish and treasure your desires by brining them before the King

They have such a love.  A mother's love.

They believe in the dreams you dream. Always...

 

Mom, I truly can't imagine life without you in it.  I love you with my whole heart.  And I found that Godly husband you had faith for!  I found him :)

 

A Letter To The Larsons...

You know it's funny...more and more time is passing where I have been home from this trip yet I still feel like so much is unprocessed in my mind.  Corey and I always joke about the many boxes he has in his mind and where every subject fits into a specific mental box.  And for the first time I feel like a man where I am searching for some labeled mental boxes to place memories or moments in and I am unable to find the correct box.  There are just so many parts of my heart that feel like they are shifting and changing.  With great anticipation though I look forward to how the Lord will lead us forward from this trip.

So, the Larson's have been on my mind constantly.  I would pay any dollar amount to have them close by...to be able to just pop over their house for dinner.  After that trip it is hard to feel like they are not my family.  Though it is a very special and personal email, I thought I would share my parting words with the Larsons.  Saying goodbye in the airport was tearful.  You truly feel like you are saying goodbye to family.  Of course when I got to that moment I thought of all I wanted to tell them and how much I wanted to thank them but the tears simply restrained my mouth from speaking so from that moment on I silently drafted an email in my mind to say a simple "Thank You".  Here is the email I sent the Larson's this morning with many tears in my eyes and many memories in my hear that are still looking for a mental box to call home.

Dear Larsons,
I truly can not express how amazingly grateful I am for the two of you, for your generosity...your hospitality...and for your amazing hearts that are so surrendered to the Lord.

You are truly a beautiful couple!  His presence just showers over you and pours out onto those you choose to be around.  I have been drafting this email probably since we boarded the plane leaving Mozambique..haha.  There was so much I wanted to say as you both hugged us goodbye but the emotion was too great and I think I would have totally lost it.  I stood there thinking, geez - why didn't I share my heart last night over dinner where I could have semi-composed myself. 

I have not laughed that hard (as I did on this trip) or felt apart of a family besides my own in so very long.  Thank you for embracing us and being such a support and encouragement!  I am forever changed by your willingness to let us see your home and your new life in Mozambique.  The simplicity of life in Africa is beautiful and I miss it already.  Processing this trip for me comes in waves...I find myself in worship a lot where the Holy Spirit ministers to all the places that are still unprocessed in my heart from the trip.  You feel so many emotions at once and in the moment all you want to do is love the little one in front of you so I found myself quickly searching for a mental box to place that emotion in until a later time.  It is all so good....  I have cried a lot of tears and find myself asking some tough questions.

Marriage.  We have just grown a ton in our marriage through this trip.  There is such a commitment that we have to one another however the Lord is even growing that...

You know how we sometimes imagine how things will play out in our lives and I had a picture of how the Lord was going to use this trip to strengthen our marriage and then it didn't look anything like that.  The Lord had an even better picture of how this trip was going to refine us individually and then as one flesh.  I am so very thankful for a Godly man that I adore and will honor no matter where the Lord leads him and ultimately, us.

All in all, we still feel like we are juggling a few balls in the air - we know our desire is to hear His voice and to yield and obey completely.  He has not spoken to us yet in specifics though we know He will.  The blessing though is that when He speaks we have such unity that we know it will be a time of rejoicing :)  To start...we are really looking for ways to be a blessing right here.  We were just spending time with one of Corey's friends, Jeremiah and he was sharing with us that the most recent statistics show that 4 our of 10 children are going to bed hungry in CHESTER COUNTY!!  It's things like this that stir us to just start in our backyard until God directs elsewhere.  

One thing I LOVED about this experience is the lifestyle does not give you time to think of yourself.  Its a life completely lived for others...

That is a tough lifestyle to live here in one of the richest countries where if there is not a problem we tend to create one...

I was humbled by the Lord's blessing on my life physically, emotionally, spiritually, etc...and I just wanted to give it all away to needy people who were also extremely joyful people :)  In making these statements though, I am for sure on a journey of continuing this selfless lifestyle and I know the Lord will illuminate His creativity and I walk in this direction.

Will.  He is such a great kid!!  You guys are so blessed - The Lord haas such a special plan for his life and I will be praying that he says yes as the Lord meets him in his journeys of just growing up.  I really enjoyed him!!  I felt like we were brother and sister by the end of the week :)

Don.  You are such an obedient child of the King.  He is so very pleased with you and is able to trust you in ways He was not years ago...He sees your heart that is longing for His purpose and plan and you have been so faithful in being patient and in step with his timeline.  I am SO excited about the starting of your company and just the blessing and testimony that will flow through it.  Thank you for all of the amazing conversations and laughs :)  At a later time we will have to discuss your pizza eating for breakfast..haha!

Terri.  You are an AMAZING woman.  You have such a quiet yet powerful strength that the Lord is using to empower and build up those around you.  It is so obvious that you are a rock of truth, grace, protection, joy and compassion for those around you.  They look to you and share such intimate details of their life because they trust your heart and the way it longs to honor the Lord always.  I enjoyed our time together more than I can express.  I think my favorite moments were in the kitchen just sharing life and laughing over silly things.  Thank you for loving me even though you barley knew me.  I know we will be friends for life and I blessed that I can pray so specifically for you because of the many places you showed me where you help on a daily basis.

Well, like I said - I wanted to share all of these words in the airport but the tears would have been never-ending.

I can not say thank you enough for embracing us, loving us and giving us a memory of a lifetime!  We are forever blessed and forever grateful :)

We love you both so much!

love,

Charity

God I Look To You

Well, we are officially home.  After 6 flights (3 there and 3 home) we have arrived.  I can still feel my body swaying as if I am still on a plane.  You get pretty accustomed to living on a plane :)  We ate on the planes, slept on the planes..by the last flight Corey and I were so giddy.  We were literally laughing so hard over such silly things - I think the sleep deprivation finally caught up with us.  I smile now just thinking how out of control with laughter we were!  My body is apparently rejecting US time because I am still operating on London time.  I keep waking up at 3AM.  Though, this is such a small price to pay for an incredible life changing trip.

I titled this post, "God I Look To You" because I think I have listened to this song by Jenn Johnson maybe 100 times since I have been home.  I don't know where that place is for you where life completely fades out and its just you and the Lord engaging but for me its in the car.  I imagine this huge streamline of communication from my heart up into the heavens where I am just so hungry to hear His voice.  And He speaks.  The morning after we arrived home I got in the car and randomly selected this song, God I Look To You.  I was immediately wrecked.  The tears started and its as if a huge sigh of relief came over me.  Its been truly hard to process all we have seen and all we have done.  It is hard to relay all we have been through and seen to those who love you and want to know all about this experience.  In that moment its as if He covered me in prayer interceding for my heart to be at ease with all we have been through.  Thank you Jesus for interceding for us daily!  Hallelujah! He is the only one in life that can connect my tears with words, even sentences.  So I just cried.  Here are the words to the song that just lifted my soul.

God I look to you
I won't be overwhelmed
Give me vision
To see things like you do
God I look to you
Your where my help comes from
Give me wisdom
You know just what to do

I wish I could keep writing but emotionally I think that is all I have for now :)

Thank you Lord for being such a good Daddy and for being so present - You are adored!

Here are a few more pictures from the various orphanages we spent time at...

Have a blessed day!

He Is Mighty To Save

I feel as though I could write testimony and memories from this trip for the next month!  God is so faithful! Everyday here in Mozambique has been different and better than the one before it.  The simplicity of life here has captured my heart in a way I still can not describe.  It just brings me joy thinking of a life here in Mozambique.  I thought perhaps tonight I could share an experience and a touch from Heavenly places that came a little unexpected.  It's about 2AM here.  I can't sleep.  I know tomorrow I will be boarding a couple planes to reach London and I'm just sad.  Sad to leave here.  But those emotions we can articulate on another day for sure :)

On Sunday, the Larson's took us to a church service at a nearby Iris orphanage base.  It is a beautiful place filled with laughter, joy and an abundance of love.  This is the base where Heidi Baker lived for many years.  We met amazing individuals and couples who live here and radically pour out themselves to these children as a drink offering on a daily basis.  The women I met were absolutely amazing and inspiring.  Imagine all of your hopes and dreams on hold for the sake of children who were rescued from the streets and given a place to call home.  Imagine a life of such selflessness for the sake of mothering and fathering those who really have no mother or father.  That is what these people do.  Everyday.  No questions asked.  So, there we are enjoying this church service...holding babies and just soaking in the amazing experience of a Mozambican message being translated into English.  Before I knew it, there was a crowd moving to the front and Corey and I were ushered to also proceed to the front.  Prayer began to spring forth as we stood at the front.  They were blessing those who were visiting.  "Super, I thought...I can do this with out totally losing it emotionally."  But I was wrong.  You see, next they have us all sit on the stage in a row and the orphan children come lay prayer shawls over you while they pray for you.  Power, authority, and supernatural impartation starts to release from these children.  They gently laid hands on me and began to pray in their beautiful Portuguese language.  I sat there so humbly receiving all that the Lord had for me.  Within a moment a child began to hold my hands and pray and I just lost it.  I wept.  Among so many things I kept thinking of how many Mozambican women I had prayed for the day before by holding their hands so wanting to bless them and have them receive a touch from the Lord and here I am now on the other side of that prayer.  Though it was moments, it felt like I stayed in that moment for quite some time.  By the time I stood up my skirt was drenched with the sweetest tears I have ever cried.  He is so faithful and mighty to save!

A Few Promised Pictures...

I am just soaking in the moments like the one above here in Mozambique

 Adorable...

My Amazing Hubby loving on kids...

A little water going a long way

Lunch after church at the Iris Orphanage

A Moment To Blog

Okay...well my family has been reminding me through email that we have not blogged yet :)  I miss you all tons so I dedicate this post to all of you!  The truth is Corey and I have been non-stop and just enjoyed our first shower in 3 days - Wahoo!!  We took an overnight flight to London, slept in a hotel all day and night and then took another overnight flight Johannesburg.  Following this we boarded another plane to our final destination -  Maputo, Mozambique.  Our travels were smooth sailing - but to be honest, Corey and I have always loved traveling with each other.  You just bond over traveling in a way you can't explain :)  Well, we exited the plane in Mozambique three flights later and the Larson's lovingly embraced us at the airport.  After settling into the Larson vehicle we were informed that we would be driving straight to a dinner hosted of the U.S. Embassy in Mozambique.  What a privilege to meet such inspiring people from all around the world that call this place their current home.  We felt honored...humbled - a moment where you realize that the small little world you live in is far from what is really going on in the world.  Though this was an evening of impact, it doesn't quite compare to the morning we were about to embrace.

We left the house by 7:30AM and drove to the Bocaria.  Now, the Bocaria is a huge trash dump where people, lots of people, rummage through trash all day long to find anything of value.  Bare with me, this is hard to describe.  The ground is covered with broken glass, the flies are swarming fast enough that swatting them is almost pointless and the beautiful faces running towards you as our vehicle arrives is a moment I will never forget.  Joy just oozes out of these children though they are barefoot, hungry and dirty.  You feel so humbled as you drive into this place almost thinking what do I have to offer.  Am I really going to tell them about a God who loves and cares as they are living in more extreme poverty than I can even make up in my mind?  But...with every ounce of hope and love (and lots of intervention by the Holy Spirit) you just embrace the moment as if it is your last!  These children are so desperately hungry for affection, a type of affection that is truly humbling.  They surround you smiling wanting to hold your hand and just to simply be near you.  So there I am, walking with my husband as beautiful Mozambican children fill every space beside us, between us and literally all around us.  The BEST part - this was only our first full day!! Many more to come...

Alright, well I am truly so tired so I need to sleep but this post was promised to so many so I wanted to bless you with the details of our day.  There is still so much more to share but it will have to wait.  We will try to post pictures tomorrow!!

Corey's Highlight of the Day:  I felt humbled and honored to worship with all the children and adults in the tiny church on the perimeter of the Bocaria.  They exhibited so much joy and laughter despite the worst surroundings.  The Lord is reminding me of the value that is placed on each soul.  That we are all created in His image and no one that we walked with today is less valuable than any person I have ever walked with previously.  God is good!!!!

Charity's Highlight of the Day: Ministering. I got to lay hands on some Mozambican women today and it was just incredibly humbling.  I would grab their hands and just start speaking destiny and rejuvenation over their lives - what a blessing.  I held my tears close to my heart and am still holding them.  I know the Lord will have a special moment when He releases them - the emotion already is truly overwhelming.

Mom...I miss you truly :)

Goodnight everyone...

Today Is The Day

Well...to say that my heart is leaping from my chest is quite the understatement of the morning!  Corey and I are beyond excited to board that plane today.  I feel overwhelmed with Him.  Even during my workout this morning I found myself off the treadmill and dancing around the basement just so intoxicated with His joy, peace and love.  I finished my workout laughing with Him and just nestling into all the goodness of just being His daughter and resting in His arms.  His tender voice is becoming louder and more frequently heard as this trip closes in to our takeoff time of 9PM.  Parts of me are a little afraid I will not want to return home :)

Obedience is a beautiful thing.  When you step into obedience in the Kingdom - things shift.  I picture my heart dancing within me - moving in ways it never knew was possible.  Yesterday was such a humbling day as friends and family prayed over Corey and I are sent us off with their blessing, love and support.  In marriage, it is a beautiful moment to see the look on your spouse's face as they encounter the overwhelming love of the Father.  I am so incredibly blessed to be married to Corey Joel. 

So, we got ice cream together after about 5 hours of church, worship and prayer.  We sat outside on a step in West Chester eating our mouth watering treats when we exchanged a look with one another that silently said, "This is it...life will truly never be the same once we step on that plane".  It was a life changing moment...
God is good. He is so so good.