New Blog

I have created a new blog page that doesn’t contain my maiden name. For further thoughts and posts, please go to: http://heidishopefulwords.wordpress.com/

Together

Together.

Together is a word that means so much in my marriage. James and I have one another to learn from, help, and encourage. We do life together. Yet, there are times that together is not how I would prefer to operate. I can no longer choose the path my life will take on my own. I can no longer spend my money however I see fit. I can no longer do what I want to do without consulting James about the schedule.

Family prays together.

Together.

Togetherness is a blessing, and yet so difficult at times. It requires vulnerability, honesty, humility, and courage. Being together requires a level of selflessness that is difficult to maintain.

Together.

I miss being with an incredible group of women all focused on the same goal. The women on my team in Uganda had achieved a level of togetherness born out of a desire for community. Born out of the fear of being alone. Born out of the desperation for swimming instead of sinking. These women showed me what true friendship and vulnerability truly is. We fought, but we loved. We struggled, but we encouraged. We were together in the deepest sense of together this side of heaven.

We were five women doing life together.

Together.

It means that one day I will be together with my Lord. We will be together in heaven with our Savior. We will together worship him in holiness and righteousness. Our common love for One brings us together across the globe now. And yet, we look forward to eternity together as well. We are together in spirit now, but will be together in presence later.

Together means so much. Together is what the Church is. Together is the Kingdom now and for the rest of eternity.

Together

Together.

Together is a word that means so much in my marriage. James and I have one another to learn from, help, and encourage. We do life together. Yet, there are times that together is not how I would prefer to operate. I can no longer choose the path my life will take on my own. I can no longer spend my money however I see fit. I can no longer do what I want to do without consulting James about the schedule.

Family prays together.

Together.

Togetherness is a blessing, and yet so difficult at times. It requires vulnerability, honesty, humility, and courage. Being together requires a level of selflessness that is difficult to maintain.

Together.

I miss being with an incredible group of women all focused on the same goal. The women on my team in Uganda had achieved a level of togetherness born out of a desire for community. Born out of the fear of being alone. Born out of the desperation for swimming instead of sinking. These women showed me what true friendship and vulnerability truly is. We fought, but we loved. We struggled, but we encouraged. We were together in the deepest sense of together this side of heaven.

We were five women doing life together.

Together.

It means that one day I will be together with my Lord. We will be together in heaven with our Savior. We will together worship him in holiness and righteousness. Our common love for One brings us together across the globe now. And yet, we look forward to eternity together as well. We are together in spirit now, but will be together in presence later.

Together means so much. Together is what the Church is. Together is the Kingdom now and for the rest of eternity.

Logos is a superb resource for Scripture study in general, or sermon preparation, devotions, communion meditations, etc. Someday, I hope to own the Logos software. . . We’ll see if it happens!

Go here to find out more about Logos on a Mac! www.logos.com/mac

A good story.

James was staying at my house so that we could work on different things, and just enjoy being together. On Tuesday morning, he asked me to take a trip with him. So, off we went. He asked me what was the best way to go so that we could gather wildflowers on the side of the
road, and I directed him toward the country roads. Then, he said, “I’m trying to go somewhere and I don’t know how to get there.” Well, he wanted to take me to my mother’s grave. So, I directed once again, and we gathered beautiful flowers along the way. We got there, and reflected for awhile. He began talking about the commitment we’ve already said that we had to marriage, and he emphasized that by saying “I do” we are committing ourselves to one another until “death do us part.” Standing at my mother’s grave brought all of this into stark relief. Yes, it was sad, but it reminded me of what we are getting ourselves into.
Well, we left that wonderfully sad place, and went to a low water bridge crossing that I used to enjoy in high school. It’s a beautiful little spot in the “woods” (this is Kansas, I don’t know if woods actually exist here). We looked around for awhile, skipped some rocks and just enjoyed a beautiful day. We were enjoying one another, whispering sweet nothings… Then, he turned me around, got down on one knee and had me sit on his bent knee. He said, “Heidi, this is me. This is who I am… I would be honored if you would be my wife. Will you marry me?” Of course, tears are falling down my cheeks, and I said, “Yes. With all my heart.”
He stood up, and showed me my mother’s ring, sized to fit my finger and was about to put it on my finger when a van popped over the hill. A man, we like to call him Bubba, not wearing a shirt, smoking a cigarette and apparently in a chatty mood stopped on the bridge right beside us. (Insert a country accent here) “You folks fishin’? This
creek is a great place for fishin’. Last year I caught a great stringer of fish.”
“No sir, we’re not fishin’ today.”
“Well, I was thinkin’ ‘bout fishin’ today, but I can come back in about 15-20 minutes.”
“Alright sir, that sounds great!” (Thinking to ourselves the whole time, please just go away!!! Can’t we have a private moment here? The ring still isn’t on the finger!!!)
Off Bubba went up the other side of the bridge, we breathed a sigh of relief, and also laughed pretty hard. Well, James pulls the ring out of the box, and is getting ready to put it on my finger and finally make it official (or was it
already? I don’t know!).
Back comes Bubba. Apparently he had to turn around and come back to get wherever he had decided to go. We stood there waiting for him to go by, laughing again, flushed and impatient. And, Bubba stopped to chat, again. He
said, “Ya better watch out for snakes on this creek. Last year, I saw a black water moccasin on this here bridge, and it had about 30 or 40 females wrapped around it, mating or something. So, I just thought you all should watch out for snakes.”
I looked around and pretended to look for snakes, thinking the whole time, “Just go away, man. Just go away.” Well, with a few last warnings, he finally left. James slid the ring onto my finger, and it was official. 🙂
The rest of the day, I was on cloud nine. We went to the sandwich place where we ate together on our first date. We saw my family. Called friends and relatives, and had a blissful day. It couldn’t have been more perfect. I have a great story to tell. And, I will never forget it.

Let me tell you about my ring. My ring belonged to my mother. It is not expensive, not big. It is a simple gold band with etched star patterns on the sides, and a small diamond in the middle. She wore it for 25 years of marriage.
Now, it is my turn to wear it. I am honored and privileged to wear my mother’s ring. I pray I can learn from her example in my life, and bring glory to God in my marriage, just as she did.
For those of you who don’t know my fiancé, his name is James Morrill and he is from Manhattan, KS. We met in college and while I was in Uganda we began talking online. We have been dating for 1 and a half years. We are planning to exchange vows on October 3, 2009.
Thanks for being excited for us and with us! We also appreciate your prayers!
Blessings!

Answers

Dear friends,
Last time I wrote a list of prayers needs. . .
This time, I want to share with you the answers that I have received to those prayers.

~ The car has been sold!!! YAY! Praise the Lord! I do ask that you pray for the new owners. Pray that they will benefit from the use of this car, and that God will do great things for their ministry through it.

~ Teaching is now finished. I finished with a thud, though. The last village failed to show up to the church! I guess we miscommunicated or something. But, the day before that one, I went to a village, and the lesson went very well.

~ Funds came in abundantly for the women’s meeting that was lacking the funding. Thank you to those who contributed!!!

~ The HUGE meeting was phenomenal. We had so many international visitors arrive, and it was a wonderful time of fellowship and planning for the new University that we are working to build here in Mbale. It was a stressful time, but all things considered, it was wonderful. Thank you for praying for that meeting! God answered prayers, and we have a vision to pursue.

~ Well, the staph infection had gone away. . . until this week. It’s back again. Pray that healing will come. That I will be able to get over whatever is in my blood stream, and that it won’t affect me any more!

~ God is beginning to show the beginnings of the road to take. 🙂 He will always be leading and guiding. I am so glad to know what steps to take for now.

– The last one is always a prayer request. So, please pray with me that God will raise up workers for his harvest field. I’ve been overwhelmed lately with the few amount of workers there are for the vast mission in this world. All over the world, missionaries all say they need more man power, they need more people, they need more help. Pray that God will raise up the workers, will provide his servants with what they need to do the job they have been sent to do!

Thank you for praying! I have felt the prayers on this end! I thank you for lifting high these needs. God is so good!

Prayer Points

Hello to all of you who read this!!!
I am writing another list. Not a funny one, not a sarcastic one. It is a serious one.
I am leaving my beloved home in 34 days. 😦
So much needs to be done before that time! For the next little bit, I’m going to be running around like crazy!!!
Therefore, I am asking for your prayers.

– Pray that I will be able to sell my car! This is a huge burden right now. It would be horrible to have to leave it behind and make my team deal with trying to sell it for me, and it’s just not fair to them to ask them to have such a huge burden on their already overloaded shoulders.

– Pray that all my teaching will be thought out, planned, and not neglected by all the hussle and bussle that is starting to surround me.

– Pray for funds to come in for a women’s seminar that needs to be funded. There is one left. That’s it! Pray for $600 to come in to cover it!

– Pray for a HUGE meeting that is happening on April 29-May 1. We are inviting people from all over the world, literally, to participate in helping us form, shape and hone our plans for building a University. We have been given authority to do everything except enroll students in this university, so we need help in shaping by-laws, land plans, building ideas and hiring faculty and staff, etc, etc, etc. Please pray that this meeting will be fruitful, that God’s will be done and his ideas, his plans will succeed!

– Pray for my health. I am FINE! No worries! But I do have a recurring problem with a random staph infection. For those of you who knew about the malaria I had a few weeks ago, thank you for praying! I am doing great! No problems whatsoever.

– Pray that God will pave the way for the future. Pray he shows me where to go, what to do and what He wants.

– Pray that God will raise up workers for his harvest field. I’ve been overwhelmed lately with the few amount of workers there are for the vast mission in this world. All over the world, missionaries all say they need more man power, they need more people, they need more help. Pray that God will raise up the workers, will provide his servants with what they need to do the job they have been sent to do!

Heidi’s coming home. . .

Yes. I am coming home. I’m happy to be coming home. But, I realize that things are going to be so different when I get there and start living. 🙂 Here’s my list of things that I think will shock me, amaze me, flabbergast me, and just be different in general:

1. When I drive on the highway, I might just fall asleep. I’m used to potholes, goats, bicycles, motorcycles, cars driving too slow, and cows.

2. While waiting in line at the store (a.k.a. Walmart) I’m going to be amazed at how quick the line moves, and the fact that I don’t have to worry about not getting all my money back, because there are no coins small enough to cover my change!

3. I’ll be flabbergasted that the power won’t go out whenever it starts to rain! And, the internet won’t be shaky because the rain isn’t hitting the wires outside.

4. I’ll be confused that I won’t have the electric company’s number, or the water company, or the internet people’s numbers programmed into my phone.

5. When bugs are hatching and beginning to fly around, I won’t see people frantically covering the road to catch them and eat them. 🙂

6. I’ll be blinded at night by all the lights that can be on at one time in one town!

7. Clapping just won’t be the same.

8. 50 second conversations will leave me dumbfounded and unable to pull myself together for the next one.

9. I can get how much done in one day?!?! You’ve got to be kidding me!

10. I’m not going to hear “well done” as I walk down the road, and I won’t be responding “well done” as I go by. How sad is that?!

And, there are so many more that I could write here. . . maybe next time.

A few funnies. . .

This is closely related to the “Things that make you go, ‘Hmm. . .'” segment.
I just wanted to let you in on a little bit of my life, and a few moments where I absolutely did not know what to do.

1. Having a lady kiss my hand as she guided me into my car. I felt a little like a princess. She was so gallant.
2. Having my internet turned off because the Company owes me money!
3. Stopping an entire meeting because my translator needed to feed her baby! But, we danced and sang while we waited, so it wasn’t totally “wasted” time.
4. Actually referring to my friend Laurie as “Rolly”, and not cracking a smile.
5. Story time: A fellow missionary was en route to a far away village, and wanted to get there in adequate time before sundown (so he was going at a good clip). He decided to pass a car, but the car would not let him, and so he did as all good missionaries learn to do, he went through the ditch to pass the extremely slow car! Well, as he emerges, safely, out of the ditch he is told by his passengers, “Ah, we know you! There are two drivers in Mbale. You are one, and the other is Heidi!” (I don’t know whether I am proud of this, or a bit ashamed. . . both I think)
6. My gate keeper telling me he didn’t like me to open my own gate, and that he will do it from now on, thank you!
7. Being able to communicate faster overseas, than I can to a village 1 hour’s drive away!
8. Having a man I DON’T know climb into my car in order to guide me to the village that is “just there”. And I willingly and gladly let him!
9. Seeing an OU shirt way out in the boondocks of Uganda. . . and thinking, “I should leave my KU shirt here!”
10. Going to church and having a “Jack Bauer” moment when I see a guy pull a box with wires out of his pocket! Then, I realize he’s just playing with a wall socket that he found on the road. . . yeah.

A new Video!!

This particular video was made in Mufutu, Uganda. It was an enjoyable women’s meeting with 120 women in attendance!!! It was amazing! Enjoy!

P.S.- Sorry I didn’t say this earlier, but this particular video is from a meeting we held in August. . . (sheepish grin). I’m a little behind in making these. But, I hope to have a slide show of pictures ready soon from the meeting this past weekend (there was no video footage, sorry!).