What we didn’t see, the Lord did. It has been so nice having Shelbie home during this time and she even had the privilege of being at the hospital when Alicia passed. She feels like the Lord wants her here this summer to be available to her grandparents and family during this grieving process.
While we know this is only “part” of the Lord’s plan for her this summer we are trusting the Lord with the rest of the details and truly enjoying having her home with us for now.
Please prayfully consider how you may make a difference in a child’s life! One person can change a child’s life!
Today I spent most of my day cleaning my room. I don’t ever let my kids get away with messy rooms even though mine is a constant struggle for me to maintain. Sad, but true. In my defense though my room is upstairs away from the rest of the house. When I come downstairs in the morning it is so hard for me to get back up to tidy it up. The baby takes a morning nap around 9ish so I can’t go up there during that time, then Shylie takes her nap upstairs around 12:30 – 1:00, so once again the upstairs is off limits. While she is still taking her nap Shiro is ready to go back down for his second nap around 2 or so. Do these excuses help at all?? How bout we just call my room the “napping room”?
Well, the napping room needed some serious attention today so I had to quit making excuses and clean. I put Shiro in the playpen in the boys room for his morning nap and I headed upstairs. Poppet, Lolly, and Shadd brought their school work so I could still feel like we were getting things done. I folded about 4 baskets of laundry that the kids had washed, dried, and put in baskets in my room. I also went thru and collected 2 baskets worth of things to goodwill. Tomorrow I’m going to dust and vacuum and it will be a new room. My kiddos got so excited when they saw it clean. They’ve been asking to do another slumber party upstairs, but I kept telling them no because there really was no where for them to sleep because all the baskets of laundry took up all the room! Slumber party here we come!!
It was my night to make dinner. I started it at 4:30 and really thought that was plenty of time. I have no idea what happened but we didn’t eat til 8:30. I did have a few minor interruptions and maybe it was to much multitasking? I was working on dinner while canning some jam. Shyloh wondered if it was all my little “helpers” helping. Whatever the case it was late…very late. My lasagna roll ups were really yummy but I think I may do something simpler for my dinner night on Tuesday. I’m thinking of grilled peanut butter and jelly. Grilling it may make it sound a bit more gourmet…and I think I’ll start making it on Monday.
Once we woofed dinner down we took the kids to watch the fireworks after the Nut’s game. The game went into 11 innings. Ugh! Maybe it was a blessing in disguise that we ate so late? While waiting for the fireworks to start Shelbie sent her good morning text. As she was watching a beautiful sunrise we were sitting in the dark. So strange. lol She was sharing on her day before.
Shelbie and the other interns had a party for the girls in the Lukasa, My Father’s Homes. She helped wash the dirty, cracked, and sore feet of these precious girls. Many of them don’t have shoes so can you imagine what a blessing this simple act was to these girls. These sweet girls then had their nails clipped and pretty polish put on them. Shelbie said that they seemed so surprised and blessed by this. They must have felt like a princess for a day! How much we take simple things like clean feet and toenail polish for granted. For these girls this was pampering like nothing else!
My prayer for these girls is that they realize that they ARE princesses! They are the Kings daughters! I pray that thru such a simple act of washing feet and painting toes pretty that they feel something so much deeper, that they are loved by God! Pray for the children that Shelbie and the other interns are ministering to. These children have been thru things that many adults have never gone thru and they carry so much hurt, but we know that is why Jesus came. To take that hurt and replace it with His love. An everlasting love. What a privilege for Shelbie and the other interns to truly be hands and feet for Jesus!
Well today was one of those days that you’d just like to have a do over and change how things go. I got online this morning to check for my morning email from Shelbie. I anticipate these every morning and have to make myself wait to check until I’ve accomplished a few other things. Today I decided to check my emails before I got my stuff done. Bad idea since t-tapping, laundry, and chores never got done after I read her email.
I opened my email to read:
“Hey Mama and Daddy,
I just wanted to let you know what is going on. Kate said before I tell you I should reassure you that it can happen to anyone, it's no big deal, and it will get taken care of soon.”
She went on to tell us how her bag had been stolen and in it was her license, flight itinerary, all her money, and worse of all her passport. Ugh! Can we please do a rewind? This very brazen and most likely desperate thief, stole her bag while it sat on the floor by her feet. The girls had gone to the internet cafe to blog and saw the man bend over and pick something up but because he was dressed similar to the waiter they assumed he was a waiter and just cleaning up. They were engrossed in their blogging and didn’t realize he had taken it at first.
Shelbie texted just minutes after I read this to ask if I had been online yet. She said they were going to the police station to file a report and first thing in the morning they were headed to the embassy to get a new passport. She was very bummed, nervous about going to the embassy, and overall shaken up. I know this will get taken care of and that she is in good hands but never the less this is not what a mama wants to hear when your separated by 10,732 miles from your child and there is not one thing you can do.
This is when I have to remember that she is not mine, but His. He is once again going to use this situation to teach and grow Shelbie into who He wants her to become. Once again she has shown me how strong she is and that her roots go very deep in her God. She said she has once again been given the chance to trust and be faithful in a situation that isn’t what we consider ideal.
I wish I could say the same for my faith. My morning just got worse. I was already feeling stressed over Shelbie so when the animal control came by to do their yearly walk through the neighborhood and make sure that people had their dogs licensed, and mine were not, I got fussy. I’m embarrassed to say it but I refused to sign the citation. Shame on me, I know. I just didn’t want to do it. Later I ended up calling them to find out what my fine is and how to get the dogs registered and I apologized. Ugh.
As I was puttering around the house, stressing and waiting for updates from Shelbie, Shaylah was going about her morning routine and I heard her quietly singing away…
Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus,
Just to take Him at His word;
Just to rest upon His promise;
Just to know, Thus saith the Lord.
Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him,
How I've proved Him o'er and o'er,
Jesus, Jesus, Precious Jesus!
O for grace to trust Him more.
Then Shyloh comes over in the afternoon and she is quietly singing…
Take my heart, I Lay it down
At the feet of you whose crowned
Take my life, I’m letting go
I lift it up to You who’s throned
And I will worship You, Lord
Only You, Lord
And I will bow down before You
Only You Lord
Take my fret, take my fear
All I have, I’m leaving here
Be all my hopes, be all my dreams Take my heart, I Lay it down
At the feet of you whose crowned
Take my life, I’m letting go
I lift it up to You who’s throned
Each time I heard one of them singing I just knew the Lord was speaking to me. Can I trust Him with my girl? Or should I say His girl. Has He ever given me a reason to not trust Him? Shelbie has truly laid her life down at His feet to use as He see’s fit, can I not do the same? Why do I think I’m entitled to having it easy and never having to deal with the stresses of this life?
I’m a slow learner. I’m thankful I have a God who is full of compassion and doesn’t give up on me. Once again I’m attempting to take my heart and lay it down and trust He who is ever faithful. I will take all my fret and all my fear and leave it for Him.
I’m praying that this person who stole her bag will be convicted by what he did, but that if he was that desperate for money that he will also be blessed. He needs a God who has compassion, one that he can trust to meet his every need. I pray he finds that God, my God, Jesus Christ.
As Shelbie has started her journey in Africa us at home have been thinking and praying about her constantly. I’ve been trying to think of the practical ways that we can be reminded to pray for Shelbie without ceasing. Today I went and bought a world map shower curtain. I think even time in the bathroom can be used more constructively. 
Today we are attempting to adjust to our new “norm” for the summer without having Shelbie here. It was a “blah” kind of day for us. We went to story time at the library like we do every Tuesday, Shyloh and Bodey joined us. Afterwards we came home and pretty much spent the afternoon sitting at the dining table drinking sweet tea and chatting.
I feel so very blessed to have been able to have spent the weekend with Shelbie. We had lots of time to just sit together and talk. I loved having her on the other side of the bed from me. I slept with one arm stretched across the pillow with my hand on her head both nights she was with me. The last night I was there without her was very tough. The room felt so empty even though I had Shiro snuggled with me.
Papa, Nana, and I dropped Shelbie off at the directors house Sunday evening. It was great to meet the director and one of the other interns, Courtney. Courtney will be heading up the stateside part of the interns this year. She told us great stories of her time in Zambia last year.
We’ve been able to skype with Shelbie daily. Tonight we said good bye and we are not sure when we will get to see her beautiful face once she arrives in Zambia. The interns are supposed to get to go to an “internet cafe” once a week to be able to email and skype their families. Those will become our golden days!
With all the busyness of preparing and packing for this trip done the emotional side of this has finally hit…hard. Leaving Texas without Shelbie was the hardest thing this mama’s heart has had to do. Hearing her voice sobbing on the phone the night we left her was awful. Just because we may be in God’s will doesn’t mean there can not be deep pain involved. We are very naive if we think that’s the case. I am reminding myself that if God leads us then His grace will cover us. I’m clinging to that thought today. We all, including Shelbie, need extra grace over these next few days.
Tomorrow morning Shelbie will officially leave all she knows here in the United States and she too will start a new norm for the summer. She will see poverty like she’s never seen before. She will meet little ones who have never experienced the great life she has. Duane and I realize that she will come back forever changed by this trip. She will never again take for granted what we take for granted daily.
We are so excited for her but yet our hearts at home ache. The countdown to having her home has officially started.
We love you bunches Shelbie! May the LORD watch between you and us when we are absent one from another, may His arms hold you close when our arms can’t! We pray you feel Him close to you every moment of every day! May one hand guide you while the other covers you! XOXOXO 
Shelbie has updated her blog, go check it out!
We have had an amazing month around here and have witnessed and experienced first hand God’s grace on our lives!
The last order of cake pops have been delivered, the yard sale was a great success, and fundraising in almost done with only a Pampered Chef’s party left. It has been a busy, busy month in Neyville. As we turn the pages to the next chapter in Shelbie’s stories we gear up and prepare for her leaving.
She graduates in two weeks then the packing begins. There’s still so much to do that my head swims when I think of it all. Again this is where God’s grace will meet us. The Lord has worked it out to allow me to fly out to Texas with her on June 8th. We will get to relax and spend a couple of days with Papa and Nana the she will report “to duty” on June 10th and I will fly back home on the 11th. She will have a couple days of training then leave the country on the 13th.
Please join us in prayer as we have lots to do to get her ready to go. Specifically we would like prayer for these things:
We are so excited to see what the Lord is going to do on this trip. This team of young people is so willing and ready to serve Him and these precious children. I pray that lives are changed, that these children feel the love of God through these interns.
Thank you to all who have served these children and the Lord by supporting Shelbie. We love you all and are so blessed by each and every one of you!
As always…It’s all grace, pure grace!
We are coming to the end of this fundraising journey this week. A friend’s daughter offered to do a Pampered Chef party for Shelbie next week but our yard sale this weekend was actually the big finale that required lots of time and energy from us.
Yesterday, after the sale as I was straightening and cleaning in the garage I made my way to a shelf that we use for kitchen storage. For the last 3 1/2 months Shelbie has used one of these shelves to store all her jars and baking supplies for her cake pop and cake in a jar business that has pretty much consumed our lives since she started.
I started empting off the shelf, packing up jars, and planning in my head what I was going to do with a bit of extra storage space around here. (Extra space is in high demand in Neyville!) I was thinking to myself how glad I was that this season of fundraising was coming to an end. It has been so time consuming for all of us. School, a clean house, meals being served on time, and sleep have all suffered the last three months. On days that Shelbie had a large order our tiny kitchen would be swallowed up with cake pops. There was no room to get in to make dinner and instead of doing school her siblings would create an assembly line and rolling, dipping, decorating, and packaging orders.
I was thinking back to all the late nights Shelbie would be up after the house was quiet and the kitchen emptied so she could complete orders. I was pondering all those nights that I sacrificed sleep with her because I’m just one of those Mama’s that can’t go up to bed and sleep well knowing one of my little ones, or even not so little ones, are still up. I was thinking how glad I was to put those 2:00 am nights behind us! As I cleaned and was caught up with all these thoughts I was suddenly consumed with a flood of sadness and grief. I was excited to close this chapter of this journey and then it hit me that the next chapter would be her actually leaving. My heart felt like it just slammed into a brick wall.
Why did I think those late, sleepless nights would be gone? They will just be traded for nights spent in prayer for my little girl. Nights aching to give her a hug, or even just to hear her voice. Nights battling and wrestling with the “what if’s” that Satan likes to throw our way. Nights spent clinging to the hem of His garment and asking for another day to wake to His new mercies.
Our late dinner’s that so frustrated me will be exchanged for an empty seat at the table. We won’t need to drag in that extra chair from the schoolroom but we will all wish we had to. As we go around the table giving our high and low’s of the day, I’m sure most of us will have the same low…missing Shelbie.
School that didn’t get accomplished all these months will carry over to summer and we will all try to have some sort of a new “normal” without Shelbie. We will take on geography this summer and do lots of reading and studying on Africa so we can feel like we are learning a bit of what she will be living.
Once again I wonder why I’m such an impatient woman. So excited to hurry through and be done with this part of the journey instead of embracing and enjoying each moment and savoring all the Grace our God has showered on us each step of the way. So much Grace He has poured out! It’s amazing.
I know that as we this trail ends and the next one begins He will meet us there and supply our every need. My flesh is not yearning for the next chapter but my spirit knows He will finish the good work He has started and we will once again be the privileged recipients of more grace.
Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. Lamentaions 3:22-23
Duane and I have had some people voice their concerns to us over the fact that we are letting our daughter go off to some other country where who knows what may happen. Shelbie has also had people make these same comments to her so she decided to address these concerns in her latest blog post. http://shelbiesstory.blogspot.com/
I feel I need to also address these fears and concerns. We are so blessed by the people who love Shelbie and care for her like we do. We truly are blessed and grateful for that! This is not a easy thing for us. We feel at peace about this and know beyond a shadow of doubt that the Lord has plans for Shelbie and He is going to use her in a mighty way, but that doesn’t mean that our Daddy and Mama’s heart isn’t torn in a million pieces over this. We would much rather her stay in our country, our state, our city, and our home. Doesn’t our flesh always want to choose the easiest path?
The Lord is stretching us in this whole process as much as He is stretching Shelbie. When Shelbie was just a little girl of 10 or 11 and she woke up one morning and told us that she had a dream that she was rocking little babies in an orphanage in Liberia we knew it was God. She had no idea what or where Liberia was! We knew at the point that God had plans for her life.
We know that it is much better to be in God’s perfect will even if that brings us discomfort rather than have a life of ease and not be in His will. We have to trust that God alone will protect and look after our little girl when we won’t be with her to do that. She is only on loan to us but she belongs to Him. In my heart I actually feel that this won’t be the only time she goes out of my comfort zone. I wonder if God will permanently call her to Africa someday. God has planted the seed deep within her heart to help the hurting and minister to the lost, to love on the loveless, and to be hands and feet for Him.
Shelbie is His. The most safest place she can be is in His perfect will. If that means she is on another continent then so be it. Fear will creep in, it already has tried. We just have to lay it down at the foot of the cross and remind ourselves that fear is not of Him. He gives us peace that surpasses all understanding. We don’t ever want to stand in the way of what the Lord is doing.
Please, for our hearts, be very careful how you voice your concerns to us. Better yet take it before the Lord. As much as we love Shelbie the Lord loves her more. He holds her tightly in the palm of His hand. That same palm that bears the mark of that nail that was put there for us. If God can lay down His one and only son for us then how can we say no to Him wanting to use our little girl to bring Him glory and enlarge His kingdom? We can’t and we won’t. We are excited to see what God is going to do with her life and humbled to play such a tiny part in it.
Shelbie has been making cake pops, cake balls, and cake in a jar. Give into your sweet tooth! The cake balls and pops are sooooo yummy! If your interested please leave a comment and we'll hook you up! :o)
Starting today Shelbie is starting the next of her fund raisers. Today is day 1 of her AVON fund raiser. Go to www.youravon.com/kfreed and order your Avon online. Go click on the online events tab and enter the promo code SHELBIE2012 so she will get credit for your orders. This fundraiser only goes for two weeks so please pass this link on to anyone you think may be interested!
I’ll be updating as she moves on to different fund raisers. Please keep Shelbie in your prayers. She has a long way to go in a short amount of time.
For those who read Holy Experience you may have already seen this. For those of you who don't read Ann's lovely words or didn't take time to watch this then please take a few minutes to watch it now.
It is so very easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of the holiday season and to forget those that are truly suffering. What we do for the least of these is what we are doing for the Lord!
Have your children watch this with you too. It's good to start cultivating a heart in them for others while they are young. Just because they are young doesn't mean they can't make a difference for the kingdom. They can! If we start with the littlest children they will one day grow into a generation of "Kingdom Changers"!
After watching this ask the Lord what He would have you do to make a difference and let us all pray not to be indifferent!
My mom usually blogs on our monthly African night, but this month she asked me if I would blog on the meal instead.
Since I was about 9 years old, I have felt that the Lord is calling me to the mission field in Liberia. Liberia is on the Western Coast of Africa. They speak mainly English, but there are many other languages including sign language and tribal languages. There are about 39 different tribes in Liberia. Although the main religion is Christianity, there are about 12 tribes that follow Ethnic Religions and 4 that are Islamic tribes. As of the this year there are approximately 3,441,790 people in Liberia, 60% of which are unsaved. The religious population in Liberia is 40% Christian, 40% indigenous beliefs, and 20% Muslim. Liberia's past has been filled with many wars. Originally populated by African-Americans and freed slaves, most of Liberia's population is now made up by the descendants of these people. Due to disease, contaminated water, parasites, malnutrition, and lack of proper medical care, the life expectancy in Liberia is only 40.4 years!
Because of this calling, I have been doing a lot of research on Liberia and one day I decided to try an African meal. The first meal was just an experimental meal, but after that meal I decided that if my family was brave enough we would start having a monthly African night. I would have liked a weekly African night, but it was unanimously voted no! :)
Last Thursday was September's African night. On the menu this month was Liberian food. For dinner we had Irio ("Stewed" Vegetables), Garlic Roasted Chicken, Quick-and-Easy Cornbread, brown rice, and Party Fruit Punch. For dessert we had Tropical Whip.
The "Stewed Veggies" was actually boiled veggies and the cornbread was ordinary cornbread with nutmeg and vanilla added. The punch was really sweet. It had lime, orange, and white grape juice in it along with tea, sugar, and ginger ale and the chicken was roasted with garlic, pepper, and salt. Last of all, the Tropical Whip was a frozen dessert that was made with pineapple, shredded coconut, bananas and meringue. It was topped with whipped cream and a maraschino cherry.
I thought everything was yummy, but when I asked Daddy how the meal was he just said that it was "getting better". Which means it wasn't a favorite! :) When I find an African meal that Daddy likes, than that'll be a triumph! :) Until than I am just grateful that my family is brave enough to keep trying new meals each month! I makes me really happy to be able to share part of my passion with my family!
"Thanks guys for being willing to do this every month!"It’s amazing to think how quick time flies, but it has already been a month and tonight was another African night. Tonight’s meal actually wasn’t to hard to endure. I did ask Shelbie to make a green salad to go with it, just in case the meal wasn’t palatable we would have a back up!
The main dish was Chicken Sosaties, (spiced skewered chicken) Irio (stewed vegetables…potatoes, corn, kidney beans, and spinach), and brown rice (this technically isn’t African as many cultures eat plain rice).
Everyone agreed that so far we all enjoyed this meal the most out of all the meals we’ve tasted. The chicken was tangy and almost tasted like it should have been a Hawaiian dish. The vegetables looked a bit scary, but once you got over how it looked it didn’t taste bad at all.
Good job Shelbie! Keep up the good work!
Last night was our once a month African night that Shelbie ordained. Shelbie made us Salade De Concombre A La Menthe (Minted Cucumber Salad), Nkatenkwan (Chicken Peanut Soup), Fufu (Pounded Yam), and Pumpkin Fritters (this was our appetizer).
The salad was gross. Nuff said on that! (Sorry Shelbie! Just being honest!) The soup was served over the Fufu (pounded yam) and wasn’t to bad. I actually liked it. It was just a little bit spicy, but not enough to much to scar any taste buds.
The Pumpkin Fritters were a hit with the little ones. They were pumpkin balls covered with sugar and cinnamon and then deep fried. Between the deep frying and the sugar they certainly weren’t the most healthy things.
Once again we all survived our meal, though once again some left the table just a wee bit hungry. We are so glad that Shelbie is trying this and taking it seriously. We are also so glad the African night is only once a month!!
Salade De Concombre A La Menthe
Nkatenkwan served over Fufu
The chicken wasn't too bad, it was actually a bit more bland than I would have expected, but Shelbie did us and our taste buds a favor and left out the habanero chiles. The chicken had ginger, garlic and tomatoes in it. Again, can we say....interesting. Most of us agreed the carrot salad was ok. It was a mix of carrots and oranges. It was actually a bit refreshing. The tuo...well, I'm really not sure what to say about that. It was, um, cornmeal. So moving on, the gebna makleyah was okay too. I've never had fried cheese before. It almost seemed like it needed something to dip it in though. It is considered an appetizer. Maybe we could "Americanize" it by dipping it in bbq sauce or ranch?
Doesn't this make you hungry?...NOT!
