TIME OUT!!!!

OK, so I know you are all (and by all I mean all 3 of you who read this!) dying for me to finish blogging about my Africa trip so you can know the last few crazy things we encountered. Trust me, I'm going to finish it and there is still some GOOD stuff that happened the last few days, but I need to call a timeout. I need to call a timeout and blog about something different for a moment. Something that is slightly attached to Africa, but yet deals with today. So....

TIMEOUT!

Happy New Year! It's officially 2011 and the resolutions have begun. I've never been one to make a "resolution", if you will. That's just not me. As a matter of fact I will be the one at the gym next week shooting death looks to all the "resolutioners" who are going to "get in shape" and all they really are doing is getting in my way! Just keepin' it real!

Anyway, I guess you can say this New Year's day I have something...not a resolution, but a commitment. While I rang 2011 in here in Pelham, AL a small bit of me is in Africa...In the form of a letter...In a binder...In a backpack...In the hands of a missionary...

My crazy, passionate, and ever talented best friend Liv, who was the Thelma to my Louise in Africa last Christmas, is in Africa as I type this. She left a few days ago with a friend for three weeks of ministering and planning. (Yes...I am jealous!) In 2009 she and I started something that I thought was a one time thing and well, two years later we're still doing it. In 2009 she was preparing to go to Africa for two weeks with a group from church (This was the trip that birthed the idea for our trip last Christmas!) and me being silly didn't want her to have to go two weeks without hearing from me (ha!) so I concocted a plan! I began to write her a small note for each day...The small note turned into a 2 page typed letter for each day she was gone. Yes, I like to talk! Anyway, as I was writing the letters I longed to make a point out of each days letter and not just ramble about non-important topics so I came up with a theme for each day. One word to focus on throughout the day. I called it the word of the day. (WOD)

Along with the letters I gave her a sharpie to write the word on her wrist so she

would remember it. I was here doing the exact same thing and every time I looked down and saw the WOD I lifted her and the team up in prayer.

(One of the WOD letter rules is that you HAVE to take a picture of the WOD written on your hand everyday! This picture is of mine and Liv's hands when two high school girls that hold a special place in our hearts were on a mission trip over spring break. We gave them WOD letters for their trip!)

It was pretty cool, but like I said, I figured it was a one time thing. Ha! A few months later I was boarding a plane for a 10 day mission trip to Uruguay...I boarded the plane with 10 envelopes each holding a WOD letter. Since 2009 every time either one of us travel doing mission work we leave with a packet of letters. As a matter of fact when we were preparing to leave for Africa last Christmas we both became sad when we realized if we were both going there was no one to write WOD's. Liv's mom caught wind of it and we boarded the plane with 19 WOD letters! She and I have also used it to minister to 5 other friends who have served on the mission field over the past two years. Over the years the letters have evolved from a simple letter with a word to a letter with a word based on a devotional we've written and a prayer for each day......As I was thinking about today I felt the urge to share January 1's letter and WOD that I sent with her:

Saturday, January 1, 2011

Woot-woot it’s a new year! As you are reading this it’s a new year and depending on what time you are reading this it might still be 2010 in Alabama…Crazy to think about huh! (Insert a bunch of small talk that none of you would probably care to read or understand!!!)

Check out Acts chapter 9. Look at verses 1-22…I’ll wait!

Yeah, I know #1 you have heard this story 1,000,001 times. #2 You might be scratching your head asking yourself “Why in the world does she choose to start the new year off with this passage? What is she smoking?” Well my response would be #1 I know is a familiar passage, but one of my favorite things in the world is to read a familiar passage and get something new from it! And #2 I’m not smoking anything…I’m doped up on cold medicine! :) Anyway, let’s look at this passage shall we. Saul was a horrible human being. I’m pretty sure that he did almost anything we could imagine. He persecuted the believers and threatened others. He lived years of horribleness. (Not really sure that’s a word, but work with me!) He was so far gone that I’m pretty sure others thought there was no hope for him. God had a different plan. God met with Saul in the middle of a road. For three days Saul pretty much did nothing. He couldn’t eat or drink, he was almost unfunctionable. (Yeah I’m pretty sure that’s not a word either!) I can only imagine what he did for those three days. If I had to guess, I would guess that he spent those three days reflecting on the years he spent persecuting people and reflecting on the encounter he just had with the God of the universe.

At the end of the three days Ananias went to him as the Lord instructed, laid his hands upon him, and Saul regained his vision. He immediately got up, got some food, was baptized, spent sometime with the disciples, and started proclaiming Jesus to everyone. Saul was soon to become Paul. Saul was DIFFERENT.

In my world, like I said, I would imagine that Saul spent his three days of blindness reflecting on his life and the years he had wasted. He had an encounter with God and he was changed. I could imagine that in those three days he thought of the way he was going to be DIFFERENT. He was a new person.

What does this have to do with you? Today is the beginning of a new year. A new start if you will. My prayer/challenge is that you spend today reflecting on last year and looking forward to this new year. Saul spent time reflecting and thinking on what he needed to do DIFFERENTly, it’s your turn to do it. Pray and ask God to meet with you today on your “Damascus Road” and show you what you need to do or ways you need to be DIFFERENT this new year. Is he calling you to be DIFFERENT … Is He calling you to do something DIFFERENT … Dare to spend 2011 being DIFFERENT. DIFFERENT for God…

Clearly the WOD for Liv today was DIFFERENT. I can honestly say that I am a different person now than I was this time last year. Some ways good, some bad. However, I also know that I still need to be a little bit more different. I am firm believer that God is always working on us to become more like Him. That means He's always working to make me a little more different. I like different. Over the last few weeks I had my Damascus road meeting...I know how 2011 is going to be different for me. What about you? I'm ready to face 2012 in 364 days more different than I am today...I can't wait to see what God does. Just know...I'll be different... Will you be different?