From Our Little Family to Yours.

We hope you have had an amazing Christmas this year. 

We pray that you know just how loved you are, by the one who sent His son this very day all those years ago. 

Born into this world to redeem us. 

Happy Birthday Jesus! 

We are so thankful for the best gift we could ever have been given! 

Just Rise Up By Sarah Francis Martin

I was given the opportunity this Fall to review Just Rise Up by Sarah Francis Marin, part of the Inscribed Bible Study Series for women. I loved the timing involved with reading this book as I started it right before our trip to Kenya. It seemed perfect to read her words about sharing our faith in a public way learning to be bold right as we were about to adventure to do that exact thing. 

I started in the weeks before our trip and actually finished after we returned. The study is based on Psalm 145 and calls us to consider whether or not God is actually the main priority in our lives, as He should be. Sarah breaks the study into five Chapters (topics) with five readings in each chapter. Ideally one reading per day with a place for journaling as you read, as well as questions to ask yourself encouraging you to think and dig deeper on the topics. 

The first section was all about living a live of praise, the study really encouraged and challenged me to begin thinking about how much I give praise to God during my daily life. Do I really acknowledge His gifts to me everyday? The Second section was on having a kingdom focus, really encouraging me to consider my daily activities and choices with an eternal focus and perspective. Section three dealt with pride and the issue of really bowing low before our king, recognizing my need for Him and His standing in my life before being able to rise up for Him. 

Section four is on our dreams and God's agenda, and lastly section five was about influence. 

This study was intense, which I wasn't quite expecting. Given that I had a deadline for the review, I really don't feel I gave it the time I needed to in order to enjoy all that Sarah intended it to offer. I will definitely be revisiting this again in the future though and taking the time to answer the questions and journal as I go. Because it really was so rich in wisdom and good questions to ask yourself.

I would absolutely recommend it to any woman looking for a great quiet time tool to use for several weeks. It is perfect for use in that way!  

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book in exchange for a review from BookLookBloggers, however all views expressed are entirely my own thoughts and opinions 

Understanding of Home.

I shared last a few days ago on my instagram how there's something about the red dirt in central Africa. While you are there it's frustrating and you feel like its always on your shoes, feet and getting into everything. Kind of like the sand was when we lived in the Middle East. Now I find myself dreaming of that red dirt roads lined with precious children who want to just be with you, always ready to greet you with a smile. 


The concept of home is a strange one to both me and my hubby. Both having grown up away from our home countries and in other cultures it's always a weird thing to be asked where home is. It's such a loaded question that I'm never really sure how I'm supposed to answer.
It usually has many different answers depending on how I gauge the person asking it.
The simple answer would be wherever I currently reside, which is with my hubby in the Midwest in our home together. That is home.
Yet my family are scattered, my parents live in England on the coast. In a farm area where it takes 20 mins to drive to the nearest McDonalds and all the local stores start closing around 4pm and the average age is probably 60 something. That was home for a while too.
Then there's my university town, the dreaming spires, the history, the people who left prints on my heart during the 4 years I wrestled with life in my early 20s. I went to school there, wrestled out my faith and convictions there, started my career there and also ended it there (but that's a whole other story). That is home too.
The desert town which no longer exists in reality because everyone I knew back then now lives in another part of the world and is in a different stage of life. That's home too.


I think the complicated answer is that every place I called home, took a piece of my heart.
Every time we unpacked boxes and I had a room to call my own, it really became mine for a season. I did life in every single one of those empty shells known as houses, they became homes because of the people in them and the events that took place in them. Home is so many different places to me.


I have never known a building where you come home from the hospital and spend 18 years of life in the small four walls growing and maturing along the way. Redecorating your room every time you outgrew the colors or designs. (For the record a lot of my walls have been white, a luxury of  rental houses)
To me every place you go has the possibility of becoming a home.
Maybe that's why I feel like visiting Kenya took another piece of my heart in the same way. I got off the plane and felt a familiarity, a homecoming to a place where I had never been before. A comfort. I have really only visited central Africa twice. Twice. That's it.
Yet it seems to be permanently etched on my heart. On my mind.


Who knows what the Lord will do with that.

What Kenya Taught me about Fear.

What I have probably never shared before, as I tend not to speak it out loud very often, is that I have a fear. A very irrational fear, one that started just before I got married & seems to keep growing in size. A fear of flying. 

I know. I know. I've heard all the answers for how to get rid of it. But its seriously like being afraid of heights (which I think may be related as tall buildings now terrify me too) you can't simply just explain it away or pretend it doesn't exist. 

Several things help, but really its something that I have to pray through many time throughout the entire duration of any flight. The frequency of flying may make a difference as well. Before we got married and were travelling back and forth across the Atlantic frequently I had less of a fear of flying, then it increased with no bad experience to provoke it, just like I suddenly woke up and realized just how strange it sounds to travel in a metal tube with wings up in the air.

So with our decision to go to Kenya last month, there was a huge understanding for me that this meant getting on a plane. Several planes. 5 different flights to be exact. 35 hrs of being in the air. It was a stretch for me.

Especially when we seemed to encounter problem after problem with our flights on the way to Kenya. Our first flight departed 6 hours late due to mechanical problems with the plane (that information really made me feel so much better!). Then another flight was delayed due to a medical emergency, which really wasn't an emergency at all thankfully. One went through a storm and of course turbulence (which actually has a calming effect on me, I did say it was irrational).

The drive that kept me going of course, was the fact that I really wanted to go to Kenya. We both felt strongly that we were being called to go together & serve for the brief time we were there. And that meant being obedient and getting on that plane. 

It requires putting my trust in God and His plans for my life. Just putting one foot in front of the other and believing that He has good plans for me. Sometimes it feels beyond me to be able to do that. Especially in a fear this real.

But the one motivator I had in all this, was something that I shared during our daily devotionals as a group on our trip. As much as I am afraid of things in this life, it doesn't outweigh the fear I have of missing out on what God has for me because I was afraid. The fear of not doing something out of fear. 
Missing what He has called me to do. Missing out on being a part of what He is doing on this earth. 

So I keep battling & praying that He removes this fear someday! Battling my fears so that I can be a part of something bigger than them and bigger than me. 
Glorifying Him, even when its hard and brings me tears of fear. 
Knowing that He comforts me and protects me. I am never really in control ever in this life, this is all Him. 

And the glimpse it gives me of His creation is pretty incredible. 

I loved reading Nicole's perspective on fear today.

Oh for a Joy like This.

We have been back for nearly a week and my heart still can't stop thinking about these kids. I really miss them with such a burden, their joy & thankfulness to God despite how little they have! They taught me so much! Yesterday we were asked to sit on a panel in our Sunday School class and talk about our trip and the question of what did we learn from the Kenyan people came up.

The answer is overwhelming, because I am sure we learned more from them, than they did from us. Having been on trips before I knew we wouldn't be going on to accomplish amazing things that couldn't take place without us. That was not our goal or our focus, my husband and I both wanted to go knowing we were joining an organisation already very present in Kenya. Knowing the Lord was already moving among the people in the region this group is working in and we wanted to go and encourage them, witness what the Lord was doing & who knows maybe join them someday? We both feel so burdened to not live permanently in the comfort of the western world and instead to reach other people groups. Of course God is at work in our current community which we are privileged to be a part of and I don't view any of the work here as insignificant. The Lord calls people to different places to do His work and for some that means staying exactly where they are. Our hearts just burn with a passion to do His work elsewhere someday. 

But the children over in Kenya, they amaze me. They are just some of the happiest kids I have ever seen. And it broke my heart watching their everyday routine, how little they have, yet how joyful and excited they are to spend time together and with anyone who will play with them. The pace of life over there was just enjoyable, no stress over online activity or how many likes you have on social media. Just quality time with people, loving on others and enjoying late night conversations with the pastors. My heart is just full. I have no other words to describe the feeling. 

I never got to join the children for their evening devotions as our evening schedules didn't permit that to take place. If I go back, I really want to make that happen. We heard them singing praise songs late in the evenings a few times and it was incredible. 

He called a little child and had him stand among them. And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me. But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea."

Matthew 18:2-6

It took everything in me to leave, I wish we had the option to just stay permanently right now. To take on the task of loving these little babes, who were being cared for by 2 selfless amazing women 24/7. To contribute even a little to what the Lord is doing through this ministry. It feels so uncomfortable coming home and discussing Thanksgiving dinner, knowing their are hungry children where I was just a week ago. Or Christmas knowing that they don't even have a toy to call their own while most children in America have more than they could ever possibly hope to play with. 

It feels so unbalanced yet its strange to see which of the children are probably happier. (Not all, just general observations) It's very hard not to dislike the western world after going somewhere like Kenya and coming back feeling guilty about where the Lord has currently called us to. I'm still figuring out what to do with these feelings. 
Until then, I'm praying over and yearning for these kids again.....looking forward to seeing what the Lord does with this passion we both have for them. 

Plus, watching my hubby interact with the older school kids just melted my heart. That man is incredible with them, wanting to know their stories and make them feel special even if he only has a few minutes with them. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me when observing those precious moments, I was too busy etching them into my permanent memory. But it is hopefully something which will occur again and again in our future together. 

Kenya.

My heart is so full as we just returned a few short days ago from Kenya. So much to think about, to process, to share & to be thankful for. 
Our travel adventure before we even started was quite the story. We ended up with a 6 hour delay in our home airport due to a mechanical fault with the aircraft. A problem with the de-icer, probably way more information than I would ever want to hear before departing to fly many hours over the arctic circle. (I was also recovering from a sinus infection, which was definitely aggravated by the pressure on all the flights)
This brought our arrival into Amsterdam 6 hrs behind schedule so of course we missed our connecting flight to Nairobi. Thankfully by an amazing delta assistant on twitter, we were all rebooked on an evening flight to Nairobi, that was nothing short of a miracle. So we hung out in Schipol airport all day, then boarded for our 2nd night flight to Kenya, arriving bright and early the following morning. 


The excitement about being in Africa was pretty high at this point, although I will admit my fear of flying and lack of sleep over the previous 2 nights was starting to wear on my body. All that to say, our brief 4 hr stay at a guest house in Nairobi to freshen up was a beautiful time. I don't think I would have woken from that nap if we hadn't set alarms though. That evening we boarded our 3rd and final flight to Eldoret, Kenya flying through a storm which made it pretty bumpy on landing. Then we were on a bus journey for about an hour until we arrived at our 'home' for the next week or so. We arrived to the sweet ladies at the guest house having made us dinner, they were amazing all week long at taking care of us! Cooking us meals & cleaning the place while we were gone all day doing ministry with the local pastors. 


Its certainly a long way from home for us. But oh my goodness it was totally worth all the hours of flying & African road travel (I will try not to complain about our roads this winter after experience their potholes). There was something so refreshing about being able to step away from the regular schedule of life and all its problems and privileges, and being a part of a ministry team which is so focused on eternal things. These pastors were truly the most godly men I think I have ever had the privilege of serving others with. I am so thankful for being able to spend a week learning how to be bold in sharing my testimony, in being willing to be used by the Lord to encourage other women in a completely different country and culture. Seeing all that He is already doing the other side of the world, and being blessed to witness such a small piece of that during our time there. 


Central Africa has been in my heart since I first went there in 2006, and the funny part was landing and feeling like I had come 'home.' How is it possible to feel that way about a village you have never been to before in your life. I felt it last time I arrived in Kenya & traveled to Tanzania. And again this time even though I never left Kenya. There is just something deep in my heart that is touched being there, something that seems to fit deep in my soul & feels like a piece of my heart is missing when I leave again. 


I was so excited to have experienced this with Andrew this time & watch his heart grow for the children and people we encountered. Who knows what the Lord will do with this passion. 


There will be more to come as I finish editing pictures and digesting all the emotions and experiences. 

Stitch Fix #5

Item one: Pixley Gonzalez Double Strap Button-Front Tank

Item Two: 31 Bits Pike Layered Cylinder Bead Necklace

Item Three: Ark n Co Bellatrix Embroidered Detail Maxi Dress

Item Four: Loveappella Odela Tie-Dye Chevron Maxi Skirt

Item Five: Skies are Blue Meia Woven Mixed Print Moto Jacket

Everytime that little box of joy arrives, we have another amazing evening planning outfits and taking pictures together. I'm beginning to love these Stitch Fix boxes for that reason alone! 

Never tried Stitch Fix before? You really should. 

You pay a $20 styling fee per fix (box of 5 items), a personal stylist picks out what she thinks you will like based on things you tell them you like & any pinterest board links you give them. Your $20 can then be used towards keeping an item or you can send them all back (free shipping both ways).

I love it because I always end up trying on clothes that I would never normally pick up in the store and usually find that I fall in love with things I don't normally like.

Plus for me its been great to invest in a few more expensive items that I know I can dress up at a minutes notice.

This time I asked for a long skirt for our upcoming trip (which I kept) and an Aztec sweater, I really wasn't a fan of this one, I felt it seemed too much like a carpet?? But I did find one I liked from f21. 

Plus my greatest joy in the box is always the styling cards which show you how to dress up the items with things you probably already have in your closet. 

You should give it a try and tell me what you think.

Much Love!

Disclaimer: Affiliate Links Used. 

Dan & Nina.

I'm sorry for being absent here, we have been busy doing all the last-minute work for our Kenya trip & I have been working on some portrait sessions while the weather is beautiful. Fall is such a great time of year to take portraits, especially if you have Christmas cards in mind. I'm still amazed that I get paid to do this now.....I'm beginning to see a dream come true, one that I've been praying over and chasing for several years now. 

So I thought I would share a couple shots from the weekend.....enjoy!

Looking back every year.

So far, we have taken a picture every year we have been married. I thought it would be a fun thing to frame in one of those larger multi-picture frames and show the number for every year we have been married and see how we change & how the family someday grows. We don't always do it on our anniversary, but sometime during the summer we try to get someone to take a picture for us.

We end up with some pretty hilarious outtake versions every year. Who knows how hilarious they will be once you throw in future family members right? Like a puppy maybe? 

How do you guys document your anniversaries? Do you do anything similar or are we the only strange ones? 

Let's All Be Brave By Annie Downs.

I loved the encouragement in this book, it reads very much like a big sister trying to encourage you to live your life the way the Lord wants you to. Encouragement to not stay with comfort when He is calling you to leap out of faith, her stories are full of scripture and truth guiding her decisions. 

There are many stories of her own showing her own personal journey from wanting to stay where she was comfortable and felt safe, moving towards ministry she felt called to. It was a great light read and I finished it very quickly. It really did feel like a coffee date with a friend, mentor or big sister.

It left me feeling encouraged and gave me just what I needed to move forward with some scary decisions in life that I have been holding back on. Its great when the Lord's timing for reading a book is perfect isn't it? 

I would recommend it for a weekend read that will leave you feeling uplifted and encouraged. Urging you to really figure out what the Lord is calling you specifically to do in the here and now to further His kingdom and how you are a part of a much larger complete picture.

What great books have you been reading lately friends? 

Disclaimer: I did receive a copy of this book in exchange for review, however all views expressed are entirely my own thoughts and opinions 

What they told us about Timing.

Disclaimer: no we are not expecting twins, we have been married four years, hence the number in the pictures :) 

It's kind of funny really, just how openly some pretty private things are discussed really. The timing for starting a family when you are a young married couple being a major one I've noticed since we got married.
When we were first married, everyone just commented on how fun it would be when we were at the stage for children, how we should enjoy the precious honeymoon stage together before they came along. How its a great time to get to know each other. How there was plenty of time in the future for rearing children, after all we were married pretty young.


Then after a year went by, several people close to us started to ask questions, they would ask about our timing for children, if we had any thoughts. Where we were in terms of our thinking about them.


After two years, even people who didn't know us as well felt comfortable asking a little more. After replying with the length of time, they would usually comment about how we must be thinking about children soon. After all we had been married for a few years and the timing was great to start really considering children.


Another year went by and people who barely knew us at all would meet us and ask how long we were married, then comment about how time had passed and we were we seriously considering having children now. How it was perfect timing and if we wanted a larger family, we should start already.


Now its been four years of marriage and people have actually started asking if we just don't want children. How time is really getting on and if we want them at all, we should get going. I find this so funny, as we have never previously mentioned that we don't want children. Or even what our thoughts have been. It just seems to be a topic that people are free to ask without pausing to think about other possibilities.

My friend, Wynne wrote a beautiful post about infertility. About her struggle with it for many years, and I have several other friends for who this is a real struggle. Now I'm not saying that is why we haven't had children so far, please don't hear me writing that. But what I am saying is that I think in general so many of us are unaware or don't think about the possibility that couples may be struggling with infertility and we may not know. So our pointed questions of when they plan on having children could be like pouring salt into a wound, a very deep real wound. Infertility and struggling to conceive is not something that is freely talked about in churches and I so wish it was, so we could love on those facing this struggle. So we could be a little more sensitive in our questions and not put our feet in our mouths so frequently without meaning to.


I personally am trying to be so careful about even just lightly teasing our married friends about timing for children, never knowing whether infertility is something they struggle with or if there are other very real issues preventing them from trying to start a family. We all have such deep hidden issues that aren't known to everyone in our lives, and sometimes I think we should remember that we never know was is going on behind the cheery smiles & light answers to deep questions like these.


I am thankful for the sweet ladies that have written about this issue & remind us of the very real struggle going on behind closed doors. Reminding us that it isn't as simple as just deciding to have children and then conceiving. How ultimately the Lord is in control of our families, size & everything.
And His timing is perfect, even when it doesn't fit with what we would pick for ourselves. 

Kenya.

'And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.'

– Galatians 6:9 - 

Dear Friends,

I am super excited to be sharing with you an incredible update on what I/we have been doing behind the scenes of this little space. A few months ago we were told about a trip our church would be taking in the Fall to a rural part of western Kenya. Both the hubby and I discussed what this would look like for us to go in terms of vacation time, finances and health aspects. 

After prayer & consideration we both felt the Lord was leading us to take a leap of faith and participate on this trip with a group from our local church here in the Midwest. 

Since then we have just continued to see the Lord swing open door after door, international travel is never a small decision, even though we are both no strangers to it with our immediate families living in 4 time zones. 

So we both agreed to explore vacation time with our employers and see where we were at. 

Unexpectedly to both of us, as Andrew had just started a new job at the beginning of the summer, we both received an enthusiastic go-ahead to participate. 

This stunned us both as it was totally the opposite of what we had expected. Thinking for sure the timing would just never work.

So we agreed to faithfully commit to the team following that go-ahead and trust the Lord with the financial aspects of both of us travelling together. We are trusting Him completely and thought this would be an amazing opportunity to both go and serve together overseas, something we have never done before. And something which we both have a passion for and hope to pursue in the future as a family. 

We are not going alone as a team, but going to be a part of what the Lord is already accomplishing in Kenya. The organisation we are partnered with is a local Kenya ministry called Build The Village. During our short trip we hope to encourage and support their ongoing ministry. 

A few areas we expect to be involved with are the prison ministries which have been newly established by the organisation, hoping to share the gospel and share the love of Jesus through conversation, sports and serving. Orphan Care as we will be staying on site next to an orphanage run by Build The Village, we are both so excited by this aspect. Marketplace Evangelism, something which will put both Andrew & I out of our comfort zones as we learn to boldly share our faith in public like never before. Finally, VBS style programs which we hope to do in several local schools. 

Sound like a lot? We think so too. But we are excited as we know this is going to grow us tremendously and take us both outside what we are comfortable with. Our prayer is that it would grow our love for Jesus & the Kenyan people as well as light a fire within us to share with others this amazingly good news which can tend to take a back seat in the daily grind of life. 


We would really appreciate your prayer as we prepare as a team, that we would grow in team unity. That our hearts would be ready to be an encouragement to each other as well as those we come into contact with. We realise that without Him, none of this would be possible and we certainly don't wish to go on our own effort which would be entirely in vain. 


We also need to raise the financial commitment for the trip, will deadlines in September and October. Should you chose to partner with us financially, we just want to say thank you for your generosity.

I am so thankful for this precious community which has supported me in so many ways and have been bursting to share this exciting journey with you all. 

Much Love, 

Lisa & Andrew

P.S. If you would like more information or have questions, email me: LoveLisaElle@gmail.com

'To belong to Jesus is to embrace the nations with Him.' 

-John Piper-