Taken for Granted

I hope I have learned something this year and not just run crazy in this 2013 whirlwind.

January through April was a blur as we prepared to move. I had no idea how hard that was going to be…I took for granted how much my friends and family meant to me. I am so thankful for the opportunity to feel the pain of missing them. It has helped me to see how much I love them and how I have taken them for granted. What a sweet reunion it will be! It has caused me start thinking about a lot of things I have taken for granted. Like…

Music…Boy did I ever take Pandora (free music player) for granted!! We don’t have anything like that here and I never realized how much music I listen to.

Air conditioning and heaters…enough said!!!

Rain…we were here 7 months before there was a drop of rain. Rain is nice!!

Walking…not walking for exercise but just walking because it’s my mode of transportation. It’s very nice!

Greetings…these are an art here and very important. It’s nice to stop and greet someone and visit. Who cares that there are things to be done. Lets see how each other are first and then we can talk shop.

Life…death is not surprising here. It is expected. I have gone to transport bodies from the funeral home and to wailings and to funerals…We live on the road to the gravesite and there is a funeral almost daily going down our street. Life is short here.  Life is hard here. Life …you best be sure of your after life. Are you?

Health care…we have had two funerals because the hospital can’t get good antibiotics here. Simple medicine would probably have saved their lives…

News…what in the world is going on in the world? Stoplights (robots) with lights that work, things that make sense, witchcraft, pedicures, Natalie Kleman (I miss my hairdresser!), water, electricity, Fresca, potholes and paved roads, Mexican food, volleyball outside in the rain! Parents that care where you are…what you are doing… someone to help with homework, feed you, pray for you… tell you your worthy… teach you about Jesus. Yes! The main thing I have taken for granted is the luxury of a family.

So as this year comes to an end we will celebrate all that has been and is yet to come. As 2014 kicks off I will try my best to not take this life for granted…to appreciate all things…to love my family like crazy and be thankful I have one. Thanks for being a part of our lives…That I can promise you we don’t take for granted!!

So I won’t take today for granted…because it’s my miracle day! Because He is not done with me yet…Sandy

Busy and Blessed

As the school term and school year here in Zambia come to a close I want to send an update. We are so busy and blessed…ALWAYS! We joke around here about contacting a reality TV show due to the daily chaos we call life. It would be the best around I can assure you! The daily happenings would blow your mind and it keeps us very busy. But the thought of God choosing us to get to do this every day reminds us how blessed we are. So from the daily run-ins with medical, financial, emotional, spiritual, physical, educational and work related needs to the daily jobs we have to do… we are busy and blessed.

 We are just back from an amazing 4 day get away to celebrate our 25 years of marriage. It’s the first time we have gotten away alone since we moved here almost 7 months ago. David and Gaylan Kraft headed across the world to visit us. Blessing it was! They arrived with bags full of blessings thanks to many of you. It is amazing what a bag of chocolate chips, coffee or a note from home can do for you. Seeing a scribbled “love suzyQ” taped to a gift fills our souls. AND then the gifts for the kids…shoes, socks, soccer boots, shin guards, volleyballs, nets, medical supplies and so much more. I have been having great fun handing out all the school shoes! BLESSINGS! 

As we move towards the rainy season and to the holidays please remember to continue to pray for us. This is the time of year when there is a lot of malaria as well other diseases and sickness. Pray that our students and staff and their families will stay healthy. As well please remember the Lifesong staff as we are away from our families for Thanksgiving and Christmas and it is difficult especially for our parents.

Again we can’t thank you enough or even convey what your partnership with us in this ministry means. You are a vital part of everything here and I hope in time you will come to know what a significant role you are playing in the lives of these kids and this ministry.

We feel your prayers lifting us and sustaining us! Your financial gifts continue to let us be here as well as the last few months have blessed so many.

A few of the blessings are:

1. Food- a lot of the kids around and in our home will get something for dinner or something to eat over the weekend.

2. Food- for a house of 7 boys who have no caretakers or parents. If you would like to see the home and hear a little bit about their lives here is a video featuring one of them. http://vimeo.com/78302404

3. Jobs- we provided temporary jobs for 4 boys who have no one to care for them. I will be taking them to the market this week so they can purchase some clothing items with the money they have earned working.

4. Rent- helped pay rent for one of the construction workers who had to move to a new home.

5. Internet- we are able to provide an online tutoring program in the afternoons in our home utilizing a great reading software program.

  

6. Son #1- our son, Caleb, has been with us since the beginning. He will wind down his time here and head back to college and the states in January. THANK YOU for affording us the privilege of serving with him. PRICELESS!

7. Immunizations- Son #2, Joshua, who attends Texas A&M will head this way for his Christmas break. We have missed him so and are getting him ready to come and visit…only 32 more days!

Thank you again for partnering and serving with us. We are honored and humbled that you have chosen to do this with us.

Busy and Blessed…

                                                                                                                              Robert and Sandy Spengler

Heaven on earth...

Big Things are happening around Lifesong for Orphans... all over the world. I am humbled at the privilege to work along side such amazing people everywhere. Not to mention all the amazing ministry partners we get to collaborate with, serve with, pray for, pray with and so much more. So that His Kingdom come! Here on earth as it is in Heaven!!...God's Church is amazing! I am blessed!

If you haven't heard Lifesong Bolivia has been authorized to receive children at Fundación Esperanza. Their first baby's should come in the next couple of days. This has been over a year in the making. A few ways to pray for Lifesong's ministry there:

                    *Pray for remaining staff positions to fill quickly, but with the right people.
                    *Pray for the children that they will receive.
                    *Pray for the surprise inspection that will take place sometime in the next 2 weeks.

There is much more happening at Lifesong ministries in Guatemala, Ethiopia, Honduras, Liberia, Ukraine, India and of course the USA with our adoption services and the Forgotten Initiative. If your church does not have an Orphan Care Ministry I can fix you up. AND you need one...James 1:27! 

BUT MY BIG NEWS is this...

We are so excited about our Student Life Homes and how this could change the future of so many of our kids! Just yesterday I had the pleasure of taking food to a home that two of our boys live in. I have written often about these boys. They have wrecked my heart!! They live with 5 other boys and NO caregiver. No food, no beds, no one to get them to school, no nothing! They could be the ones Ezron is talking about in the video. The ability to live in our Student Life Homes could change their lives forever! 

Please pray for our kids, our future home parents and FUNDS. We need money to make this happen!! So as we prepare to launch a campaign to make this happen I am reminded that Christ told us to pray for His Kingdom to come...ON EARTH! Just as it is in heaven. We are praying that this will be a little bit of heaven on earth for our kids... 

                                              Lets bring Heaven to earth...because He is not done with us yet!

                                                                                                                                     Sandy

Ethiopia Guatemala Honduras India Liberia Ukraine Zambia USA - See more at: http://www.lifesongfororphans.org/countries/honduras/#sthash.Mmdbczof.dpuf

Whispers...

I have neglected my blog...Well not really... to be really honest I am just struggling right now to have anything useful to say. The days are long and filled with much. The days continue to roll together with a myriad of things to do and I look up and think..."Ok God...where are you? I am dying here and I need you to guide me!"

As most of you who know me know, I have most always had an answer for everything. Please forgive me for that! If you ever doubted that just ask my husband or one of my kids...HA! I have always been a fixer and a pretty good gauge of people and what what...so to be at a loss for guidance, advice and the like is very humbling...

Throw in living cross culturally to the mix and somedays I just stammer...at least my brain is stammering...what...do...I...say...right...now...And then there is nothing. Just flat lining. It is the strangest thing to be thinking and there is nothing up there. Just like a vast mass of nothing.

I am learning the hard way that my only hope is in Jesus...Oh did I just say that? That's certainly not very missionary like...

If I thought I needed Him before He is showing me that I cannot live without him...and when He gets me to slow down, make time for Him and finally humble myself I hear Him whisper...

"You need Me...you can't do this without Me. I am going to take everything you are good at and remove it so you have to rely on Me. Yes... just Me... No skill, no knowledge, no training, nothing!...just Me. Oh yeah...and then you might not like my answer. I might tell you no and you might have to see some injustice and feel some real pain. But I am still ruling and reigning and good. Very good. You just need to come to me and I will fill you. 

BUT THIS WILL NOT BE EASY!"

So I cling to The Truth and The Life even when my feeble pitiful brain can't seem to muster a thought... I long for the whisper to become a roar and my stammer to be words that bring Glory to my owner...

So today is my miracle day...because He is still whispering...

                                                                                                                                   Sandy

I am foreign!

Today I have marveled at the interesting things we have had the privilege of experiencing as foreigners. I guess we thought we knew a lot about Zambia...HA!! How stupid we were. We still don't know much...I am very foreign!

But you know, we had been here twice, dear friends live here and had given us as much info as they could, we have been praying for the people and place for 2+ years...you feel like you know something.

But I really never imagined taking deworming medicine. Yeah and it's such a normal thing. One evening one of the boys sitting at our dinner table just blurts out "I have worms". What?!?!?! I about spewed my food all over the table. HA! Oh my word...

And the last two weeks have been a plethora of teenage boy circumcision. Yep! 15 or so...all hobbling around teasing one another. You can only imagine the jokes. Teenage boys are pretty much the same universally I suppose. Having raised two boys has been most helpful! I have handed out more Advil than the local clinic the last few weeks!

And there's the market. I love the market. It's filthy, fun, loud, chaotic, begging, friendly, fighting, bargaining, rap music blaring with christian music, socks, shoes, clothes, tomatoes, toys, you name it they have it...It's where I have been proposed to, kissed, heckled, berated, stalked and EVERY SINGLE TIME I have been yelled at "Hey Muzungu"! Literally that's someone screaming 'HEY WHITE LADY!" Or..."Hey foreigner!"... Yes I stick out like a marshmallow in a sea of chocolate chips (ohhhh....YUM) but at some level it just feels...well...not right. But I actually don't belong here. Remember the Sesame Street song..."Which of these things doesn't belong?" It's me...

People want to talk to me because I am different...or foreign (Ok...or because they think I have money because I am white). Unfortunately most of my life the people I have talked with, hung with, loved, and befriended over my lifetime have been people who were drawn to me because I looked like them, acted like them...belonged like them. Belonging has been easy...safe...nice...

But here I am very foreign and it's really hard some days. OK...It's really hard most days...

So I was reminded today that if ever things start to seem right...if ever I start to feel like I belong...if  things seem easy (haha...) I need to check my spiritual compass. I need to remind myself that I do not belong here. And not just here Zambia... but here earth! Scripture tells us that our home is not here (Hebrews13:14-16). We are only aliens living in a foreign land for the purpose of making God's name GREAT to all nations.

Do you look like you belong here? Wouldn't it be awesome if we looked and acted so different that others wanted to know us? Wanted to know why we are not affected by this world? Why cancer doesn't scare us? Why losing our jobs has no sting? Why giving up the American dream makes sense to us? Why death is victory? People yelled at you "hey foreigner!"and you loved it! It felt right!

We have the choice...choose being a foreigner with me. I desire to be as foreign as possible (no jokes here please). Unfortunately this world has a hold on me...but come with me...lets do this together! I will help you if you help me. Lets shed this home and become foreigners...I promise you it can be the greatest adventure of this lifetime!

It will be our miracle day...we can be foreigners the rest of this earthy life...because He is not done with us yet!
               
                                                                                                                        Sandy

Funny

I love to laugh! I am not a crier...God just didn't make me all that emotional. I just never cry...I am just very logical about most situations and rationalize it away. No crying needed! Back in the states I would say I cried...hmmm...hardly ever. But here...ah!! The tears flow on a daily basis. Some are good tears but most are a mommas heart crying... kids don't have warm beds and mommas reading them bed time stories, walking home in the dark to an empty house, girls with no dads to hug them, boys don't have a dads to wrestle with....oh yeah this is going to be funny!

So...I have decided to relive some of the funny moments we have had so far and have a good laugh. I'm trying to replace the tears with laughter today. Please join me...

Upon arriving in Zambia we displaced most of the Lifesong staff. Sheila let us have her house and KG let Sheila have her bed and KG moved into sleep with Shane and Mitzi...so the dominos fell. But only for a week or so...or weeks and weeks that turned into a month...HA!! So every day was something else...finally we were getting close to moving in so we decided to start cleaning up the house for move in day and we found critters...bats, black mambas, spiders and well that rat...I am still laughing! Enjoy...

Then there was the week of crazy car madness. At the time there were 5 family units living here using 3 cars and a work truck. First off the Canter (Robert's work truck for the construction site) bit the dust... the very next day the van (the McB's car) joined the canter in the dust...the very next day...the RAV bit it as well and Mitzi and Sheila ate a little dust too pushing that baby uphill in the african heat on the busiest hwy in all of Zambia.

The weird thing is all those cars are currently still running...well kinda...

So the laughter continued...how about Robert highlighting my hair for the very first time? Yes he did! Not only was he so serious and intentional that he took so long the bleach was was making me a serious blondie! It was time to get that stuff off my head. BUT THE WATER WAS OUT! Yes it was. Right when we needed it. So I am panicking...and Robert grabs the huge 10 gallon water jug off the water dispenser and comes running. As I am kneeling over the tub he is pouring gobs of water into my ears, over my face, back into the other ear...we were laughing so hard! So I am a little blonder than normal these days...But hey! Blondes have more fun right??

Okay...how about another...I think I could go on for days...so off to the grocery store we go in that van that bit the dusts weeks before. After loading our groceries in the back we take off for home. On that same hwy in Zambia... the back hatch of the van flies open as we are driving and out go all the groceries onto the busiest road in the country...Thank goodness we had kids with us. They sprang like Jack in the Box and had those groceries loaded and back in the car in no time...the bread was a little dusty but edible...

   

   

Then there was the wedding. How I wish I had the video for this one...The McB's sprang for their gardners wedding in their front yard. There were 100's of people and music and dancing...It was a festive affair...and as the wedding gifts were being danced down the center isle...yes I said danced down the center isle. Everyone needs to enjoy a Zambian wedding in their life time! As I was saying...we were all standing near the back as the china hutch went a dancing down the isle...Shane noticed a large metal piece rolling off the top of the hutch and he took off like Hussain Bolt to save some poor soul from getting whacked in the head...but to no avail...Shane's feet found a couple of rocks in the path and he went from Bolt to slow motion...after about 15 feet he went headfirst into the arch way to the entrance of the center isle and almost toppled the whole thing... after picking himself up off the ground we were not too kind...I don't know if I have ever laughed harder...and we are still laughing...sorry Shane! 

And then there is the visit to the Market with Kristie and Mitzi...we decided to head to the inner bowels of the market to find some great deals...Only to find a very drunk man whom Kristie ducked and missed and I saw a little too late...As I was trying to avoid stepping into the mushy mucky mud I looked up...not in time...as I tried to roll away the man kissed me on the cheek...lovely, lovely smell as well...and we are still laughing...

And the futbol games...such fun!! Zambians really do know how to enjoy life...

Well I could go on and on but this has gotten too long. So as you laugh with us remember to pray for us. This is no easy task. Just living here is much harder than we thought even with all the hilarity. Thinking cross culturally is even harder and living it out is almost impossible but for the grace of God! 

But today is our miracle day...

because God let's us laugh in this life. Because he is not done with us yet!

Life is different...

For me life in Africa has so many things that are the same as life in America...

Being from the south I love that everyone here is so friendly. Anxious to wave and smile at me. 

Waiting on service calls for internet, plumbing, electric fence (ok thats different), etc...

Grocery stores, italian gelato, pizza shops, organic peanut butter...

We even found Hellman's Mayo at the store last week.

Oh...you know how you go to Costco and fall in love with an item to find that they 
don't carry it anymore...YEP! Same thing here. 
Where are you tomato flavored corn nuts?

People cut in front of you in any line, honk at you while driving, 

and pretty much disregard your right of way.

TV... Yes TV. We can watch CSI, NCIS, ESPN (Africa Version) BBC 

and lots of FIFA and African Football. Even Wimbledon!

As you can see most of these have to do with me and MY comfort... 
That's for sure the same as home!

But one thing that is different is the mental fatigue I feel at the end of the day. I have been given this ridiculously humbling opportunity to be here. To come and serve. Come and share the one true comfort in my life...JESUS. And by the end of every day I am mentally exhausted because in every situation, conversation and moment I am trying (sometimes failing) to share Jesus, trying to rescue kiddos for the glory of the Jesus, loving the unlovable, overlooking the brokenness... because I want them to know the grace of Jesus. The one thing that can for sure comfort them.

Bernard the Gardner- AKA Snake Killer, Bat Killer, Fence Fixer, etc...We NEED him!

At school with the kids, with the parents, at the clinic, with my gardner (yes I have one), with my house manager (yes..that too. Be Jealous!), with the internet guy thats 2 days late, with the plumber who 2 months later still can't seem to fix our toilets, with the 100's of people walking down my street every day, with, with, with...

So why is this different? Because I didn't do it in America... 

It's not Zambia that's different. It's Sandy! 

Baby Mitzi...

So please don't waste a lifetime like I did living your daily life worrying about the stuff that doesn't matter! Without sharing your one True Comfort. By being frustrated in traffic, or with the repairman who is late, or the car that cut you off, or the teacher who upset your child, or the Starbucks who got your order wrong (how I would love a Starbucks...even a messed up one)! I pray you fall into bed exhausted by the stress of trying to figure out how to share your Prince of Peace with a world in need of Him.

YOU are not different than me. If you are a Christ follower (if not LETS talk!) you are on MISSION! You too have been given the ridiculously humbling opportunity to be here. 

This life is about a broken world in need of a savior. And you can share Him at the barber, in line at the DMV, at school, at work, at, at, at...

So...Today is YOUR miracle day too...because He is not done with us yet!

                                                                                                                              Sandy

Spengler June Update

Well we have officially been here only 2 months...and yet it feels like home...but we feel like aliens...but we have new forever friends and family...we look and talk completely different...we stick out like...well like white people in a black country...there are children who call us momma and daddy...We have adults construction workers who call Robert their father...we don't belong here...Our hearts will forever be here...I miss Texas but I really never want to go home...But oh how I miss my family and puppies...WHAT??? For those who don't really know me...YES I AM CRAZY! One of my favorite things about Zambia is the signage they put on their oversized vehicles. It describes me perfectly! Abnormal...

So as we continue to live and love where we do not belong God continues to bless our hearts just as He lets them ache and cry and long for justice and mercy. Zechariah 7:9, "This is what the Lord Almighty says: administer true justice, show mercy and compassion to one another."

Some highlights of the last month have been savings accounts, boys, filled tummies, relationships, a house, a world cup qualifier and so much more...

Robert and Caleb have begun a savings account and an incentive program for the construction workers and to date EVERY SINGLE MAN has money in his savings account! They are all on time to work and showing up every day so they can get the bonus incentive at the end of the month. We are so excited! They were able to show them in scripture some principles about money, borrowing, etc...and the men have responded. We also had "M" come down with a severe case of malaria. Robert bought some rice and chicken and went to his home to check on him and deliver the food. When "M" returned he began profusely thanking Robert for his care and food. Robert said "We are friends right? This is what friends do for one another. They care for each other!" "M" replied..."You are not my friend. You are my father!"...So needless to say Robert is having a profound affect on these men. Please pray for deeper relationships that glorify the Lord.

It's only because you are supporting us through prayer and finances that any of this is happening. We could not be here without you partnering with us! Some of our favorite things that have happened because of your support are:

1. Our grocery bill has doubled and we are feeding many kids dinner almost daily.

2. We purchased more uniforms for kids who have outgrown or worn out their uniforms.

3. Our house is almost fully furnished. We have plates, pots and pans, forks and spoons!

4. Robert was able to purchase soccer tickets for his workers and take them to their 1st ever World Cup Qualifier game in Ndola. Zambia vs Sudan. Unfortunately the game ended in a tie, 1-1. It was a great day for building relationships and singing cheers! FOR HOURS WE SANG...

5. I am tutoring 11 different kids. I am not skilled or trained but God is good. KEEP PRAYING!

6. We are developing deep and lasting relationships with 2 teenage boys who live alone. Please pray for wisdom as we fall deeper and deeper in love with these boys.

 I could go on and on. There is so much happening on a daily basis. The rewards and hugs are endless and priceless. The sickness, hunger are desire for a relationship with a parent are haunting. But GOD IS GOOD ALL THE TIME!

Prayer requests...Please pray for Robert and Caleb's relationships with the construction workers. Please pray for T and R as we tutor and somewhat parent them. Pray for Robert's father, Bob Spengler, who will have another surgery soon, Please Please pray for our son Joshua who is at basic training in South Carolina with the US Army. Pray for Lifesong and their ministries around the world, for favor and resources.

Thank you for being on mission with us. We are all in this together!!

As always...TODAY is our miracle day. Because God chose us...and he is not done with us yet!

                                                                                                    Sandy

Momma

This mommas heart has been stolen by R...He is 15 years old and can barely read. He has no family and lives with 4 other teenage boys. Today he called me momma...

This week he lied to me about one of his roommates being sick. He wanted me to go to his house and see his roommate. R is worried if his friend misses more school he will be kicked out. 

He loves his friend.

We discovered a very neat and tidy house. In a compound where life is dirt, filth, waste, poverty and chaos we found a small house filled with 12 teenage boys skipping school and the house neat as a pin. Some of the teenage boys live there alone...one of them is R. He also cleans the house and does the laundry for the other boys who are all older than he his. This mommas heart is so proud of him...He loves his friends and wants them to be good...they are not! I asked who did the cooking...he shyly grinned and chuckled "cook what?".  "Where do you eat?", I asked. "We don't eat", he said... 

And this mommas heart hurt!

 So every day he comes for tutoring. We see him everyday. And everyday we send him home to no dad, no home, no dinner, no warm bed and no momma...He goes home to teenage boys with nothing.

I want to scoop all 6'+ of him up and give him a home, a family, clothes, shoes, a warm bed, to read him bible stories that he never got to hear when he was little, make him a warm breakfast...

 and give him a  momma! 

So today was a PTA meeting at Lifesong School. R asked Robert if he would stand in as his parent? OMGOODNESS...OF COURSE! But Robert had work offsite today so I would stand in instead. I held back tears...all he wants is to read and a family...

AND...there are 160+ million others in the world just like R. What in the world is this momma supposed to do? I HAVE NO IDEA!! I have no scripture, I have no answers, I feel empty like I have nothing good enough to give...

But today was my miracle day because I had the honor of sitting under the nsaka with 60+ other Zambian caregivers/parents who were standing in for their kids. Today I was a lovely Zambian boys momma. Whiter than white in a sea of black covered by the crimson blood of Jesus... 

because He is not done with me yet...

Momma

Stolen Kwacha

Where to begin...how about before we left the States for Zambia. There were multiple conversations about the nature of the culture here. One of the facts of life here is stealing. It's a way of life for some, it's survival for some, it's a lack of values and morals for others, its desiring what they see on TV and in the lives of the white people. Sometimes it's those you are helping the most...It's confusing!

Mitzi stopped one day to give some kiddos a lift. Walking is the transportation mode in our community. Very few people have a car so the roads are filled with pedestrians. FILLED! You would think they would appreciate the lift off the dusty dirt roads and from the heat. But alas they just saw it as an opportunity to get what they don't have. So out went the iphone before she knew what was happening. Stolen with her in the car! It was probably sold. They maybe bought food with it but more than likely they used it for...well lets not go there. There has been so much more stolen it would take pages to recount them all. 

So as I always do I chirped annoyingly as only I can about locking your things up. You know... when their faces glaze over and you can tell they are not listening anymore? Or the roll of the eyes...Like I have heard this all a hundred times why are you saying this again look? Yeah well thats how much I have chirped. Lets just say that we were well aware that everything needs to be locked up at all times. Even around those you know and love and love you. It's just what you do here, you lock things up.  

Last night Caleb had ALL his money stolen. 2000 Kwacha or $400 US dollars. Mitzi said that is about the same to a Zambian in this community as $10,000 to us. WOW thats a lot of Kwacha! 

So what did the Chirper say? Yes...I did...You would think after 23 years of parenting I would not have been so stupid. But I did... Right out of my mouth came the accusation "I told you! You have to lock everything up!"

What if God accused us and threw our mistakes in our face ? What if every time I sinned he accused me? Reminded me how stupid I was? NO! That is Satan who does that. He is the accuser who points out our failures as if to say I told you so? I mean really what kind of lesson was I trying to teach?

The hours after Caleb's money was stolen he probably learned more than if I had continued to chirp in his ear for months. It's a story he will tell the rest of his life. 

Memories of a lifetime...

5 young Zambian boys, 2 young missionary men (Caleb was one), searching compound (slums) in darkness of night, finding culprit, denying, black mamba paddy wagon, Mitzi...OH YES MITZI!, more denying, police station (hut with 2 men), searching, digging for stolen money in yard, father, police station, AK47, prison threats, under carpet, ....4 hours later Kwacha returned! Then Police payoff...HA! Back to stolen Kwacha...

Mom could have never offered that! But if I only would have...NO! That is satan! That is exactly what I did to Caleb. If we don't take our mistakes and determine that God has what is best for us and learn from it the accuser wins...

So today I commit to forgetting the accusations of the accuser and remembering the act of my savior and will try to offer grace!

Hebrews 9:14 How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God! 

So today is my miracle day! Because I am free of the accusations of the accuser...because He is not done with me yet!                                    

Sandy

Spengler 2 week update...

Wow...it's only been 2 weeks. HA! I feel like I have been here for months. I guess we did hit the ground running. We are still not in our home but I am hopeful it will happen this week. PLEASE?!?!?!?!?

Robert and Caleb have hit their stride building the high school. The 1st 17 days on the job will be the hardest as they are pouring the slab...17 work days in a row. It's hot and it's slow going but they have started making friendships with the men they work with. They will be with these men every Monday - Friday for the duration on the project so please pray for favor and influence with these men for God's glory. 

I have been tagging along with Shane and Mitzi learning how they operate and how I can best help.  Their days are filled with the constant interruption of need. How anything ever gets done is still a wonder to me. You just sit down to get some work done and here comes someone who needs medical attention, then a teacher needs supplies, then someone needs a ride to town, and then and then and then... It's actually quite amazing. At home and at work. It seems there is ALWAYS someone waiting for you. One morning there was a mother and her daughter waiting outside the gate for a ride to the hospital. Her daughter had a broken arm...just sitting on a tree stump waiting. So when Mitzi had a long list of to do's and 5 children to care for that day she just rolls with the punches and adds to her list...This will be my life and I pray for the grace to say yes.

I will get to office in the Library of the school to help keep the library open as often as possible to encourage reading. What better spot! I have had the opportunity to tutor a couple of times already. Two boys that are actually men, 17 & 19 I think. They are in grade 7 and read on a 2nd grade level...maybe. EVERYDAY...I mean EVERYDAY they show up for tutoring. And they will wait and hour or more if they have to. They are desperate to learn. They want a future. I wish we could bottle their hopes, dreams and desires and sell it in America...Pray for S and R that God would open their minds to learn how to read. PLEASE PRAY!

I have had so many experiences in my 2 short weeks; Caleb meeting Africa for the 1st time and making friends and loving someone because Christ does. PRICELESS! Hearing conversations about what to do with a widowers children after his 30 year old wife passed away. Seeing shoeless, clothes-less  hungry people by the droves, waiting, bargaining, paying $$$$ for simple groceries, picking lemons from our lemon trees and making fresh squeezed lemonade, having a Zambian ask if I was married (HA!! the lure of the pale white skin),  driving on the wrong side of the road in downtown Kitwe, listening to Robert and Caleb talk about how they want to make the workers lives better, playing Uno with 3 of my sponsor kids for hours, African praise and worship...

Well...today is my miracle day! Because God brought me to Africa and He for sure is not done with me yet!

Sandy

"This" is too hard...

Yesterday I actually thought "this" is too hard to do. Leaving my son and our eldery parents, family and friends behind...I can't believe I'm doing this!! Am I CRAZY...this hurts too bad! I cried from Dallas to DC and talked with God.

Me: God are you sure you called us to this?
God:  Do you trust me?
Me: Well of course I do!
God: Then let my provision take care of what needs to be taken care of...you go and make my name famous.
Me: But this hurts so bad!
God: Yes my sweet child...it does....Did I tell you this would be easy?
Me: Well you didn't say it would feel like this!
God: Sweet child...remember who I am!

So... I decided I would remember who my God is.

I pulled out my kindle that sweet Mark and Mel Presley had given me the night before. In preperation for our long flight I had wiped their account off the Kindle and downloaded mine. All my books and bibles were there, battery charged, ready for travel. But the 1st thing to pop up was a book downloaded by Mark and Mel. Weird...why was that one book still on there and why did it pop up 1st? So I read the preface...and in a way only our God can do I read..."and in saying we will do anything for God meant we would hand Him everything".

ISN'T GOD FUN!!!!!

So I reminded myself how GREAT God is. After only a few minutes of remembering I am able to say.... yes Lord we trust you and we are willing to hand you everything because you are that big and worth much more than even that. Following you isn't easy... you never said it would be. But you've got this!

So through my tears, fears, and sadness I claim victory in the only thing that is worth living and dying for. Jesus Christ!

Yes you have got "this"...

and today's our miracle day cause You're not done with us yet.

                                                                                                               Sandy

I wonder...

I wonder why God made scary nasty slimy snakes...

I wonder why hair grows from strange places as we age...

I wonder where my son will be deployed with the Army when he graduates from Aggie land...

I wonder why my father-in-law has cancer...

I wonder why I moved my mom from her home of 46 years to live close to me and THEN God asks us to move to Zambia...

I wonder why I can't help people understand why we are moving. Why can't I convey what's in my heart? My words are not sufficient. We just don't make sense...

I wonder what it will be like to live in a community where so many are fatherless...

I wonder why there are so many orphans? More than 143 Million... I WONDER WHY? I wonder what it is like to go to sleep at night not knowing the love and care of a mother or father. I wonder what it's like to think no one cares about you, or loves you or that you are hungry. WHY?

I wonder how we will handle caring for those in such need...

I wonder why the closer we get to moving to Zambia I want to cry... I AM NOT A CRIER.

But I don't wonder about some things too!  I don't wonder why God loves me...because as a parent there is nothing Caleb or Joshua could do that would keep me from loving them. NOTHING! I get why a father would sacrifice everything for his children. My husband would without a second thought. 

How will the fatherless understand the love of THE Father if they don't know the love of a father?

It's the mystery and wonder of our God! Because God is Father to the fatherless. Do you know what it's like in Gods holy dwelling place (Psalms 68:5)? What pure religion is (James 1:27)? It's where the least are loved, tummies are full, worth is known, grace is real and children know the love of the Father and Jesus Christ is worshipped.

So on this Easter weekend as we remember the sacrifice and resurrection of Jesus Christ I want to remember the wonder the disciples had when they saw Jesus after the crucifixion, after the price was paid when our victory was sealed... "they were so full of joy and wonder (Matt 24:40)"...

Please pray with me for the fatherless...that this Easter weekend they will know their Savior and the joy and wonder of Him who is their Father. Because today is our miracle day...cause He's not done with us yet!


                                                        Sandy

ignoring Him is easy...

December 28 we landed at DFW and immediately grabbed for our phones and turned them on. Can't be out of communication with the world for too long you know! As everyones phones on the plane started chiming with different sounds indicating we were all still connected, there it was...the email that confirmed our lives would be changed forever..."OK guys, I have been waiting a WHOLE 10 DAYS TO EMAIL THIS to you all. Now that you'll are back from VACA, please feel free to know this is out". 

And the talks with Lifesong began. 

Funny thing is the 10 days we were on vacation we did not talk about it at all. I know our hearts and minds knew what God was asking us to do. I guess we just decided it was too scary and we had 10 days to ignore it. 10 days to wonder, dream, fear, escape...I know I thought about it every day. I couldn't help but look at every thing and every action through the filter of how it all compared to what God was asking us to do. 

That was very scary and convicting too! 

I wonder how many times in my life I have ignored God because it was less trouble, less fear and easier to dream about if I just ignored Him. Of course It didn't look like I was ignoring Him. I talked about Him, studied Him, read books about Him, Cheered loudly for Him and joined groups that did the same...You could never tell that I was ignoring Him. But I never got that email, call, conversation that asked the question...

are you going to do what God is asking you to do? 

I wonder if when our phones chimed on there had been no email from Lifesong? What would we be doing right now? Would we have the resolve, courage and discipline to do what God is asking us to do? What if Lifesong waited to hear from us? 

Would we have had the courage to call them? 

This is why we need to be in community with one another! Encourage one another, call one another, email one another, have the hard conversations with one another. Surround yourselves with people that will "email" you! Scripture is ripe with examples for us to call each other to the task at hand. So we are grateful that Shane emailed and called and refused to let us forget what God was calling us to and helping us to not be deceived by the lives we have created for ourself...Hebrews 3:13

April 17 is launch day. OH MY GOODNESS! If there is an emotion we are experiencing it. The closer we get to leaving the closer the tears are to the surface. The fear of the unknown (snakes), the worry of support raising, the grief of leaving a child behind, the angst of leaving elderly parents, the stress of getting ready to leave and of course who could care for our puppies like we do...

But above it all is the Peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension...Phillipians 4:7. So amidst all the emotions God is faithful and we have a complete peace in the midst of our human thoughts and feelings and we know that we know...

                                  today is our miracle day...cause He's not done with us yet!


                                                                                                        Sandy

Today is my miracle day!

Not because I have just been raised from the dead after a nasty bout with the flu. 

Which might I tell you was one doozy of a flu. Stay away from her at all cost!

Not because of anything I could ever do. But because my King has chosen to give me one more day (Psalms 139:16)...

One more day to make His name known, One more day to feed the sick, One more day to provide Hope to the hopeless, One more day to forgive, One more day to love, One more day to share the Grace I have been so richly been given... 

Why I am still here is a miracle! Because for the majority of my life I have probably done the opposite... yet He still believes in me...

So it's time. Time to start feeding, providing, forgiving, loving, sharing, 
giving, helping, teaching, learning, hugging, hoping and forsaking. 
Its time to forsake myself and follow Him.

So off on the journey of a lifetime we go. Robert and I will be selling most everything we own so that we can move to Zambia in April so Robert can manage a construction project for Lifesong for Orphans. We get the privilege to forsake our selves and our stuff for Him. 

So we decided to say yes. 

So today is my miracle day. Because He is not done with me yet. 

                                                                                                                                       Sandy