Cheerful Givers

I have read the verse in 1 Corinthians 9:7 many times before, it says, "Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver."
But, I have never truly seen it done before in quite the way I saw it done last Friday evening. A fundraiser was put together for the Beautiful Gardens project by a couple of special women, Pam and Mary, at Graafschap CRC church. They had a lot of helpers and put together an evening where we all rode in an airplane to Lesotho, Africa to help build a house for Beautiful Gardens. There were skits, music, exercise, and so much more. To be honest it was so funny at times, I along with a few other people, was literally crying. I could never pull off something like that so I am thankful that God has gifted so many people with the ability to bring laughter and fun to a fundraiser.

Here are a few photos from the evening...

Our beautiful angelic hosts for the evening, aka the top flight attendants who did many funny skits along with organizing the fundraiser. These ladies are so much fun!

Yep, Captain Bryan flew our plane to Africa. He did go a little off script on occasion to show his own good humor.

Apparently I have been living in Africa too long because I have never seen a tummy whistler skit before. I was crying from laughter. I will not disclose who the whistlers were though :)

Elijah got to join his buddies Jesse and Shelby for an in flight exercise routine.

As we closed the night, I reflected on how much joy had been shared throughout the evening. It means so much to me that despite the lighthearted atmosphere of the evening, every person there knew that they were there because of the orphans at Beautiful Gate. The money that they put into their envelopes would be going to be used to help in the care of orphans across the ocean through a building project,  and I got to sit back as people pulled out their checkbooks with smiles on their faces. I saw real cheerful giving and I learned something new about being a cheerful giver that night. Doing God's work is joyful, I should always give with a smile and with gratitude in my heart! Thanks again Graafschap Church. 

The goal was to raise $40,000 so they could build one house, but actually the number they announced at church on Sunday morning was $127,000, enough for 3 houses. You just can't beat God's giving!



 

What faith can do through an 11 year old!

When I went to Lesotho for the first time in 2009, my team was lead by my friends Keith and Lori Kroll. They had lived in Lesotho for 5 months with their 3 children a few years before our trip. During that time, their 5 year old daughter was impacted a lot by Beautiful Gate and by Lesotho. She has made an incredible video and tells her story in a way which is honest and real. She is working toward a goal of raising some funds to help build a rental home at Beautiful Gardens as a way of supporting the children and staff of Beautiful Gate. Please take some time to click on this link and watch her video and prayerfully consider your role in helping her reach her goal! Thank you Morgan for showing us all what faith can do and for having faith to move a mountain, or in this case build a house!


http://www.youcaring.com/nonprofits/one-brick-at-a-time/75564

I may not have done this right to make the link work, but it does work when I copy and paste it. Thanks everyone!

South Carolina and Halloween

Despite our apprehension about another road trip, our trip to south Carolina was a huge success! It was a blast for our kids as they reconnected with their cousins and I also enjoyed some time to get caught up with my sister, brother-in-law and dad again. We went hiking, to the zoo and just spent time playing together at the park and in the backyard with a big pile of leaves and it was wonderful.

The Greenville zoo was celebrating the birthday of their giraffe.

It isn't "fall" unless there is a huge pile of leaves to fall into!

The leaves wore her out :)

I felt a little inspired by the elephants so did a little reenactment in the gift shop.

 

It was also a highlight to hang out with our friends Tim and Antje as well and to see our kids all get along so well after 3 years of not seeing each other. Tim and Antje peppered us with questions about our time in Lesotho and also invited their bible study group over so we could share with them about Beautiful Gate. It was really good to answer their questions and look back at our journey thus far and it also got us more excited about going back to Lesotho. God is so good and He provided a lot of great connections and conversations during our time in South Carolina!

When we came back, we jumped right into the Halloween activities and Mercy really enjoyed her first "American" Halloween that she could remember (I have pictures to prove other years but she does not remember). We have carved pumpkins, done some face paint, and trick or treated with friends. This coming week is FULL of meetings and speaking engagements for Bryan and I as our time is winding down swiftly here in the states. We leave for Lesotho on December 4th so it is little over a month away.

On the Road...Again

I'd be telling a flat out lie to say that any of us Geurinks are excited to hit the road again for a road trip, but that is what lies ahead tomorrow. I am already having lack of minivan and DVD player regret, hahaha. I am excited, however, about getting to see my sister, brother-in-law and 3 nieces soon so despite the lack of enthusiasm for the car ride, we are all happy to be seeing more family that we haven't seen for 3 years (wow that is a long time).
We are off through the Great Smokey Mountains to South Carolina and the forecast looks pretty good for the week. It will be good for our kids to get reacquainted with their cousins through some time at playgrounds and hopefully a little hiking too.
At the end of the week, we will get to see our friends Tim and Antje who were in a bible study with us many years ago and who happen to live only about a half hour from my family (how convenient). Bryan and I will have the opportunity to share our testimony with their bible study group and about the ways God's glory has been evident during our time at Beautiful Gate, so prayers for wisdom and God's words would be appreciated. Well, off to finish packing before we hit the road!

Some October Highlights

Yep - we are CRAZY!

My mom, dad and brothers spent a week with us so we thought it would be fun to represent our favorite teams for a family picture. Yep, we had them all beat with our Packer gear!

 

 

Our kids made some new friends when we went to visit some really good college friends and their 2 super cute kids.

 

There was a huge bin of corn for the kids to play in and Bryan enjoyed burying our kids. Who needs a beach with sand when there is corn in the autumn.

 

Can you believe we got all 5 kids looking at the camera!! Miracles never cease. We had such a good time in Chicago.

 

Our final stop in Chicago included surprising our kids' "big sister" Paige who lived next to us for 8 months in Lesotho. Her sister helped us surprise her as we showed up unannounced at her college dorm (we are so sneaky). That was pretty cool!

Some Days

Some days, I walk through the trees and look at the beautiful fall colors and I think of how deeply I missed that when I was in Lesotho. Some days, I look west in the evening and I think of the magnificent sunsets that were a part of my daily life in Lesotho.
Some days, my heart is filled with such unexplainable joy when I see my kids experiencing things which are part of the normal everyday lives of their American friends, but they relish it with such an innocent delight that it takes my breath away. Some days, I think of the late night conversations I had with my kids about a child in the hospital or a recent death of a BG kid and I remember my heart being filled with such a deep satisfaction that my kids really understand God even on our darkest days in Lesotho, even on days where I was tempted to doubt.
Some days I think 5 years is enough for our family to serve in Lesotho, but then I think 5 years is no where near enough time. But today, I am not worried. I am not stressed. I know whose I am. I know that God will show us the way, He will guide our path and our steps because He is close to us and He cares about us. He will prepare the way for the next leader when the time is right and He will be faithful.
Since being home I have discovered a new song which is my new favorite. The Great I Am by Phillips, Craig and Dean. It is a perfect reminder of who God is and that He is in control. He knows my future and I do not need to worry or be afraid because I am being lead by the Great I AM!!!

Writer's Block

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I don't know what to write about! I have sat here for 3 nights in a row and just don't know what to write about. I have so much on my mind, yet nothing that I can really put into words. We have done some amazing things like celebrating our churches 50th anniversary, and I have had a lot of mental struggles that I am working through. Some are just dumb things like trying to figure out why it bothers me when I feel like I have deprived my kids of certain things and the next minute I am beaming with joy over some incredible insight they showed from an experience at Beautiful Gate. So I guess I am just in a pensive state right now.