Acceleration and Awe Inspiring Destination

In the last five weeks I have traveled 3 out of the 5. This is new for me. While the previous 4 years were certainly a time of rest, total rewiring and preparation for this time in my life, having now come into a season of much acceleration I am both challenged and inspired by God's masterful planning.

During the 3rd of my travel weeks when I was flying to Los Angeles to teach a workshop, the Charlotte airport was overrun with scads of stranded people due to bad weather in the North East. After waiting in line for 1 1/4 hours to get up to the ticket counter, I was told I would not be able to make my flight. Suddenly in the midst of this disappointment and inconvenience, my direct flight was shuffled around and I was heading to Philadelphia to catch a flight to LA. Excuse me, but isn't that the wrong direction?

Then to my chagrin my return flight inadvertently was deleted requiring my loitering at the ticket counter again upon returning home. In true fashion my eyes began to well-up when I was then detained at security as my belongings were scoured amidst panicked yelling and the command to freeze, as the security guards pursued a possible gunman near-by. Just your average day!I find that my goal is usually to aim for the most direct path, while the Lord has an entirely different purpose, let alone route in mind.

When I arrived in Philadelphia I managed to catch an earlier flight out to LA. As I stood trying to convince the ticket agent that I should get on the earlier flight, suddenly he informed me that he was upgrading my ticket to first class. Then with a tone that implied that he didn't care who got the seat, he said, "Someones going to get the seat, so it might as well be you." Exactly, I heartily agreed. Still breathing heavily from having not recovered from my jaunt through the airport, a sweet sigh of relief escaped my lips.

Suddenly I was spellbound by the fact that the Lord seemed to take me totally in the wrong direction to get me to His destination, while blessing me with more than I could have anticipated. The consolation out weighed the grueling day of travel by miles. I sat utterly content as I was catered to for more than 5 hours. This fiasco reminded me of the agony of childbirth, without the catering. You puff, pant, sweat and swear, but in the end the prize is so far beyond the pain that it leaves you spellbound by the amazing gift that was birthed.

I was further amazed by the indescribable time I had with old friends from my previous days in Hollywood. Then the day of the workshop arrived and I spent quality time with amazing women, but as some retold frightening stories about me from my former life twenty-four years ago, we laughed at God's faithful hand in all of our lives. Even though it seemed that many of us had taken the long route, the Lord had perfectly brought us to His destination in baffling fashion.

The building point of the week ended as I was able to impart the inspiration and awakening that had transpired in my life into women that were ripe and ready to be birthed into new purpose. The struggle of transition and rearranging of flights was nothing compared to the exceeding joy of watching these women contemplate a bigger God than they may have dared to imagine. That's certainly been true for me! Birthing is never convenient, most certainly sloppy, but it's fruits are immeasurable.

No Lack of Vision Here

My husband Mark, my four kids and I just returned from a trip to Haiti to help our dear Haitian Pastor/friend Maula Jean Marie and his wife Elda, as they prepare to open a training center at their Youth With A Mission base in Gonaives.

During our stay we found the obvious, a beautiful country with beautiful people littered with poverty and lack of education. We also found life bustling from every corner. In fact the hardest adjustment for me was the constant uninterrupted chatter that vibrated through the streets all day and night. From the roosters crowing at 4 in the morning until long past the time we laid our heads down to sleep there was unconstrained movement and life in the streets.

I realized that aside from some of the luxuries we take for granite in the States like, air conditioning, pavement, our children's right to education, plumbing, clean running water, employment, the safety in traffic laws, and a governing body that is generally for the people, we also have the luxury of peace and quiet when we want it. We just close our doors and isolate ourselves in our own worlds and enjoy the solitude. That is a luxury we are accustomed to that isn't even missed in Haiti, but that's not what surprised me the most.





Since I teach workshops to help people discover their mission and purpose in life, I know that one of the effects of not having vision in life is unemployment, homelessness, the misery of being ill placed for one's particular gifts and missing one's calling, or even worse, death, yet I wondered how this translated in a 3rd world country. I was some what surprised when seventeen year old Casimir, Maula's son, engaged me in conversation one evening. I found out that what's true in America remains true in 3rd world countries, because as the Bible teaches, "Where there is no vision people perish." Proverbs 29:18

After Casimir inquisitively inquired, I briefly shared about my workshops assuming that because his English was limited he wouldn't understand. Boy, was I wrong. He continued to probe me with questions on how he could be sure to walk in God's purpose for his life. Here I was in a country where the lack of opportunities meant that most people stood on the street peddling their particular wares everywhere you looked and yet this young man knew he had a passion to become a doctor and an eye doctor at that. Maula and Elda have imparted great truth and value into their children, causing them to reach beyond their circumstances to reach with God.

After I learned about Casimir's vision for his life I encouraged him to guard it like a fragile seed that God would water and cause to mature. This stirring conversation led to being invited to speak to the youth in Maula's group,The King's Kids and prayerfully imparting seeds of vision and destiny into their lives.

The next morning I felt led to ask Casimir to pray for the headache, oddly enough behind my eye, that I had struggled with for several days and when he did it disappeared. As God was faithful to use Casimir I now encourage him to step out in faith and pray for the sick when ever he has an opportunity as he begins on the road into his purpose and calling.

During this time in Haiti although God did many wonderful things in all of our lives, what transpired for me personally was far from what I had imagined. I had no idea that I would go to another country to receive further specific confirmation for what I feel called to, or that I would witness first hand God's intention for all of mankind, poor or otherwise to get a hold of His vision for their life and like Casimir to become a solution to a problem that exists in the world. My eyes were truly opened to God's heart in new ways.