A 50 pound bag.

I was just there.

I remember packing. I remember praying. I remember driving around to see people before leaving. I remember saying good byes. I remember get dropped off at the airport. I remember needing God to show up in HUGE ways, because I couldn't go to another continent without Him.

I remember because it was just a few short months ago. I left for Bolivia. All alone. Scared. Looking for adventure. Needing a real God. Ready to conquer injustice. Taking on the world. Saying goodbye to all I knew.

My friend, Lauren in this exact moment is where I just was. She is currently flying from Chicago to London, and then from London to Zambia, Africa where she will spend the next six months loving people.

She came over the other day to pray.

I was really looking forward to praying for her, with her. I was just there. All the emotions running were still fresh. I was only gone for six weeks, not six months, but I can imagine.

So she came over. We shared  our hearts for missions, and stories of a real God.

I began to pray for her. It was easy. How did I pray? I just remembered, What did I beg God for months before? What mountains did I need Him to move? What were things I was nervous about? I was just there. It was all fresh. I believe the Holy Spirit helps us pray. He brought something to memory I wasn't intending on praying about.

I began praying for her luggage to be the correct weight. Out of anything I could have prayed for, that was on my heart the most.

I reminded Lauren that our God is the same God that put planets into orbit, He split the Red Sea, He changed water into wine. He is more than capable to make bags weigh 50.0 pounds.

And its true. I remember fretting for days about my own bags being over weight. 

He is so faithful and sovereign. I put both of my bags on the scales at the Detroit airport on Valentine's Day, and they BOTH were 50.0 pounds. TO THE OUNCE. They were both pounds over when I left my house. He did that.


So, back to Lauren. She just called me a little bit ago. She  was boarding her flight to London. She told me she had to call and tell me about our real God.


She was so nervous about the weight of her bag. She was just praying and praying for it to be the proper weight. She said she put it up on the scale, and it was 50.0 pounds EXACTLY. She was then able to share about a real God and her faith to the airport workers checking her in.
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Are you kidding me?!?!


Scales don't lie. It isn't a coincidence. God is sovereign. He makes the path of the righteous smooth. He listens to the whispers of our hearts. He is faithful. He gives to us when we ask in Jesus' name. He is all powerful. He is God. He is in the business of miracles. He just wants our faith and obedience. He wants to be famous in all of the earth.


What a good God we serve.

Please be praying for Lauren as she travels to Africa, and as she settles in. She will be there for the next six months, and I know is coveting your prayers.

I look forward to watching God's favor and faithfulness our out on her in Africa.

Once she is up and blogging, I will link up with her blog, so you can follow along.

Overwhelmed once again by His goodness, M

He is faithful.

Tonight I was driving home. I was tired, frustrated, and exhausted. I was praying to a real God, who at the moment didn't feel very real. I was telling Him, "I know you are faithful. It just doesn't feel like it. I feels like You forgot about me. I know You love me, but I don't feel it."

And then, I saw it.

The prettiest rainbow in the world. It was a full, across the road, double rainbow. The clearest and largest rainbow I have ever seen. Ever.

At the exact second I needed to be reminded of His faithfulness. He showed Himself to be faithful.

The rainbow in the Bible represents God's faithfulness, His love, and His promises.

Genesis 9:8-17 (amplified version)
8 Then God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him, saying,
9 Behold, I establish My covenant or pledge with you and with your descendants after you
10 And with every living creature that is with you —whether the birds, the livestock, or the wild beasts of the earth along with you, as many as came out of the ark—every animal of the earth.
11 I will establish My covenant or pledge with you: Never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood; neither shall there ever again be a flood to destroy the earth and make it corrupt.
12 And God said, This is the token of the covenant (solemn pledge) which I am making between Me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations:
13 I set My bow [rainbow] in the cloud, and it shall be a token or sign of a covenant or solemn pledge between Me and the earth.
14 And it shall be that when I bring clouds over the earth and the bow [rainbow] is seen in the clouds,
15 I will [earnestly] remember My covenant or solemn pledge which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters will no more become a flood to destroy and make all flesh corrupt.
16 When the bow [rainbow] is in the clouds and I look upon it, I will [earnestly] remember the everlasting covenant or pledge between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth.
17 And God said to Noah, This [rainbow] is the token or sign of the covenant or solemn pledge which I have established between Me and all flesh
That was my rainbow. It was for me. God reminded me right in my exact moment of need to show up.

He is faithful.

He is love.

He is truth.

He is real.

He is overwhelmingly everything I don't understand or ever could.

He cares about me.

He is faithful. So faithful.

I pulled over in a parking lot to take pictures. I stood, crying, worshiping a real God.

He is worthy.

He thinks of me dearly.

Great is thy faithfulness.

His thoughts toward me are precious and many.

Psalms 139:17-18a How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand;

Blessed. Loved. Daughter of the King.

Love, M

Undone.

Bolivia, what have you done to me?

I am undone. My heart is broken in such a beautiful and unnatural way.

While watching a movie or a tv show with a scene on adoption, I am instantly undone.

I think of my little girl calling me "mama" at an orphanage. I remember leaving her with her big, questioning brown eyes. I can't shake it. My arms ache to hold her again.

Bolivia, you messed me up. I am not the same girl I was before I met you. It has been weeks and weeks since I was standing on your soil, holding your babies, feeding your homeless, and loving your street kids.

You are written on my heart. I can't erase you from my mind. You changed me. There is no denying it.

I close my eyes, and it all rushes back.

My heart is with you, beautiful Bolivia. 

I prayed and prayed for a broken heart and Jesus' eyes. I got both.

Life is hard when your heart is elsewhere.

Praying for the people of Bolivia.

Dreaming BIG dreams tonight.

Love, M

Song of the moment:

Christy Nockles -Sing Along

From babies hidden in the shadows
To the cities shining bright
There are captives weeping
Far from sight
For every doorway has a story
And some are holding back the cries
But there is One who hears at the night

Great God
Wrap Your arms around this world tonight
Around the world tonight
And when You hear our cries
Sing through the night
So we can join in Your song
And sing along We'll sing along

From the farthest corners of the earth
Still His mercy reaches
Even to the pain we cannot see
And even through the darkness
There's a promise that will keep us
There is One who came to set us free

Great God
Wrap Your arms around this world tonight
Around the world tonight
And when You hear our cries
Sing through the night
So we can join in Your song
And sing along We'll sing along

So let Your song rise
And fill up the earth
Let Your hope ring out
Let Your heart be heard

He hears the whispers of my heart, even in the kitchen.

I love to bake.


I have since I was a little girl. My easy bake oven was one of my favorite toys growing up. One year in high school, for my mom's birthday, I made a triple layer cake. I remember how proud I was of that lopsided, delicious thing.


When I moved out, on my own, two and half years ago, I rediscovered my love for baking.

The idea of taking different items and mixing them together, and baking them to create a bite of paradise was pure joy to me. I love to create my own recipes. Finding new ways to make desserts from scratch became a passion. The aroma of a sweet treat filling my home was good for my soul. I love to bake to relax, to show someone how much I love them, because I'm happy, to get anger out, because I'm bored, because I found a new recipe. I just love it. I'm nothing too special. Baking is just something I love dearly. It is what helps make me, me.


While baking the past few years, I have used a fork to mix. I don't own a mixer. I realize I could go to the store and get a cheap mixer, but I know they don't last long. And really, I have always wanted a kitchenaid stand mixer. Always. But they are crazy expensive, and I have never been able to justify spending the money. So I use a fork, knowing I will have sore wrists and arms before the oven heats up. I am not complaining, I enjoy it, and it is just a fact.


I was on a mini vacation down south a couple weeks ago visiting my friend. She is getting married this summer, and I am a bridesmaid. I flew down for a long weekend to help her with all things wedding. (I love weddings. I love planning them. I love being in them. I need a separate closet for all my bridesmaid dresses. I just love them. Ah!) We were registering for gifts at a store for her.


And then, I saw it.


The most beautiful kitchenaid mixer ever. So much potential in its little self. My daydreaming kicked in. Brownies with caramel, banana breakfast bread, moist chocolate chip cookies, lemon pie, apple crumb muffins, pasta sauces, oh the possibilities were endless. 






I looked at the price tag and laughed. Reality set back in. I told my friend jokingly, I just want to get married just so I register for a kitchenaid. (Totally joking. I would love to be married one day. Kitchen appliances included or not.) She laughed. But really in my mind thinking I will not own one until there is a certain ring on a certain finger.


Owning a kitchenaid has always been on my heart. I told a friend if I ever owned one while still single (not given at a wedding shower), it was going to be a really cool God story, I just knew it.

Back home after my trip, I wanted to try out a new recipe for homemade red velvet cake and cream cheese frosting for our young adult Bible study. I knew I really needed a mixer to get my frosting right.


I called up on of my dear friends and asked to borrow her kitchenaid. She said of course! I could borrow it for a week. I then made my first batch of cupcakes. I fell in love with this silly machine that made life in the kitchen so easy and quick.


A week later was yesterday. My friend called me. We made small talk at first, and then she brought up the mixer. She told me that God had put it on her heart not to just let me borrow it, but to give it to me. She talked it over with her husband, and  they were in agreement, and just wanted to bless me.



They didn't know that for years I had been wanting one. They knew I wanted to borrow it for a few days. But the Creator of the Universe put it in my friend's heart to give it to me. My friend was obedient. And I was blessed beyond measure. I own a kitchenaid!!!!!!


My friend told me she knew I would use it to bake to bless people and for ministry. I instantly thought of when I went to Bolivia a few months ago. I baked cookies and goodies and sold them to pay for my shots to go to Bolivia. I also thought of how often when I bake just to bake, and give it all away, He uses that to bless other people. I cannot wait to get in my kitchen and bake away. I plan on baking to go to Haiti, I plan on baking to love people. I am so excited.


Goodness. I am such a blessed girl. I have a God who cares about my mixing needs in the kitchen. He hears the little whispers of my heart. He doesn't want to be involved in just the big-life is falling apart things. He desires an intimate relationship with us. He wants to be apart of the things that seem so tiny, we don't share with others. He is not a God who just sits in heaven looking down occasionally.


He is active in our lives, if we allow Him to.





God's word says in James 4:8 "Draw near to God and He will draw near to you." He longs and desires to be close with us.


He is a good God. He wants to bless us. " If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him! " 


Life is hard. But God is good. And sometimes He uses an obedient friend to bless the socks off of me. 


So I really encourage you, are you supposed to be blessing someone with what you have? You never know how it will effect someone when you are just obedient and give in faith. Or, do you need to be more open and aware  and thankful of His blessings? He is our daddy, He  wants to give us good things and love us. We just need to be in tune to His voice and following Him. 


Have a wonderful, sunny Sunday. I am looking forward to being outside today. Soak up the sun, with a good spf! 


Can't wait to share the other amazing things He is working out, and teaching me. Love, M 

The latest and the greatest.

It has been a busy few weeks for this girl. I am finally settled back into a routine. Life is going. And God is good.

The biggest news is I moved! Some people were confused when hearing this. No, I am not in Bolivia...yet. I still live in Michigan.

While I was in Bolivia, I had began praying to move to a very specific area with a very specific price range. That price range was a few hundred dollars less than what apartments are rented for in that area. But I knew what I could afford, and where I wanted to be, and I just kept praying. My first night home from Bolivia, I drove around this area looking for places for rent. There were none. I continued praying. Three days later my uncle text messaged me that he had helped moved his friend's daughter from a place (my area I wanted!) and didn't know if I was interested.

It wasn't hugely public knowledge that I wanted to move there. So he gave me some contact info. I then emailed, and was told it wasn't up for rent, and that the current renters's lease wasn't even up yet. I then heard from him a few weeks later. He told me I was the first to be told about it, and as long as paperwork went smoothly, it was mine. Woo. Well, one of my best friends works at the office, and she was the one to call me and tell me it was mine.

So, I now live EXACTLY where I wanted to be. Rent is EXACTLY (to the dollar) the amount I prayed for. I am less than 10 minutes from church, work, my best friends, some family, cute parks and restaurants. One of my dearest friends is now my roommate. I am so blessed.

We are still unpacking and organizing. But it is starting to feel like home.

I was anxious signing the lease. Twleve months here, when I want to be in Bolivia, or somewhere. I was struggling with the commitment of being in one place for one year. But God is good. He has me exactly where He wants me. Already I have had handfuls of people come over and I have been able to share my faith, my stories of my God's goodness and a cup of coffee.

I am so blessed. I have a God who hears the whispers of my heart. He has a plan for me bigger than I ever could imagine. He is using me in Michigan. I am clueless what will come of the next year, but I am excited.

Love, M

Linking to:

Haiti next?

I want my heart to mimic Jesus' heart. He loves broken people. I want to love broken people. He has a heart for the nations. I want to have a heart for the nations. He loves those who don't know him. I want to love those who don't know him. This fall, some of our youth from church are going to Haiti for a week. There is a possibility I would be able to go as a leader. If you know me, this excites my soul. I would turn 25 in Haiti. Serving people, loving orphans, painting, building, and working with the youth I love. What an ideal birthday! Please be praying as I figure things out with work and finances. Please be praying for our youth as they prepare to go. Pray for all of our upcoming findraisers to be successful. Pray for the people who are supposed to go, to go. Pray for ministry in Haiti going on now. Love, M