He heard my cry.

Hey y'all! 

I pretty much feel like my Philippines updates have been a little all over the place lately, and you know what? 

They pretty much have.

One minute we are planning to still go in December.

The next we're not.

A couple of days after the storm devastated the island of Leyte, I was informed that we would not be able to travel to our orphanage in December like we had planned. I briefly mentioned it over here, but y'all, if I'm being honest, I was just really, really upset. In my mind the things I was being told made sense. 

It's too dangerous.

The roads are impassable.

There is no food or water.

Electricity may not be restored for over a year.

There's still bodies everywhere.

But in my heart.....

my heart just wasn't having it. 

I had peace in knowing that if it was truly meant for me to go see my sweet babies at Rosemary's Home of Hope in December, God would make a way.

All I could do was pray.

And pray.

And pray some more.

I would be lying if I told you that these past couple of weeks haven't been a wild, emotional ride for me.

I'm not sure what it is yet, but I'm still convinced God is doing something bigger than I've even dreamed up in this heart of mine.

I've felt restless.

Helpless.

Full of energy to do something about the destruction that struck the people I love so much.

They are family.

And with everything inside of me, I want to be there.

I want to hug them, and tell them it's all okay.

I want to lift a hand where I can.

Carry food and water to the famished.

God, use me. Wherever and with whatever, just use me.

That has been my prayer.

As of now, myself, a friend of mine, and hopefully a gentleman who knows a little something about building, will be leaving around December 11.

It will be a super short trip, but I know it will be worth it.

I have a feeling God has something huge in store. 

The rebuilding will probably not begin until after the first of the year.

It is our job to go in December, assess the situation, and analyze what materials we will need to begin the process.

I'm so excited for this opportunity, and unbelievably grateful that God saw my heart, and answered my prayers. 

To help out with funds needed for travel expenses & rebuilding, please see the following:

• Visit the official page of Rosemary's Home of Hope at www.rosemaryshomeofhope.com and select
• Visit the Support link listed above. All donations given on this site will be used to directly assist relief efforts and rebuilding, as well as travel costs for my December trip.
• Purchase a Rosemary's Home of Hope T-Shirt @ the Store. Not only will all proceeds be given to Rosemary's Home of Hope, but it's also a super great way of raising more awareness for our home in the Philippines.
• **For more information, please visit http://www.hopeforthehopelessministry.com/blog.html

Saturdays in the South

Well, hey y'all! 

Looks like we all survived Monday, and now heading right on into Tuesday.
 I can't believe how quickly time is passing, and how near in my future a break is.
A BREAK....it almost brings tears to my eyes thinking about just sitting and doing nothing.
but really...I'm super pumped to spend sweet time with my family & friends.

This past weekend was a big, BIG weekend here in Starkville. The tide rolled in and competed against our Bulldawgs. Y'all, we played Alabama  a good game. I think we were all a little in shock by this, as honestly, we all expected quite the slaughtering. Ha. 

I would say we held them pretty good. And unlike ahem...the school up north....we actually scored. 

and doing something they didn't..well, that's all that truly matters :)

my roommate and i are horrible about taking pictures
the lighting here is horrible, and why the heck is my face so shiny?!

military recognition weekend
by far the best halftime show by our Famous Maroon Band

BSU stadium cleanup crew
each week we clean the stadium (yuck!)
the money the school gives us for doing it all goes to missions (major plus!)

I wanted to leave you guys with this. You all know my heart is super burdened for what's going on in the Philippines right now. So touched by this girls bravery, humbleness, and genuine love for the Filipino people! 

Update.

This post was copied from my ministry website, http://www.hopeforthehopelessministry.com/blog.html

Update. 11/12/2013 0 Comments with Steve last December giving out Christmas shoeboxes Last night we finally received communication directly from Steve, and I can't even begin to tell you just how overjoyed my heart felt seeing his name pop up on my phone. The good news still remains...all of our children, staff, and village families that stayed at our home are safe and doing well. We did however learn that there was more damage done to the home than we initially thought. The roof was blown off of the boys dorm, our main building, and our dining hall. The only roof to survive was the girls dorm. Also, we were informed that our church was completely destroyed, and will need to be built back from the ground up...nothing remains. We are now beginning to collect the information and devise a plan to most effectively help out our orphanage, as well as our village. Right now, our biggest concern is food for everyone, as the supply and funds are scarce, and also tarps until our roof can be replaced. The estimation for food, roofs, and our church rebuild is $10,000. I would like to point out that any amount given will be a huge blessing, and will help tremendously in taking the first step in getting them the immediate needs they are needing. There will not be a rebuild team going until spring, but we hope to supply the Filipinos with the funds to help do some of the work as soon as possible.  To make a donation please click the support link. Once again, I thank you all for your thoughts and prayers! our church: East Marietta Baptist Church of the Philippines taken December 2012 with my Filipino Lolo (grandpa) taken December 2012 with Jenny Lynn, one of our younger orphans taken December 2012 with Unice, one of our orphans taken December 2012