I was listening to the classic Christmas song, “The Little Drummer Boy” today on the radio. I had always thought of it as a nice song, an easy tune for kids to sing in Christmas plays. But as I listened to it this morning, I heard it in a completely different way.
I’ve always believed that God leads His people. The first time we traveled to Swaziland, Africa, in 2006, was expecting His guidance more than ever, even if it meant sending an angel to trumpet the way. My husband Tracy and I knew He was tugging on our hearts to go, but our question was whether or not He was also asking us to move to Swaziland.
I’d heard about the children orphaned by AIDS, but until I arrived, there was no way to imagine how hopeless their situation had become. Swaziland is a kingdom of about 1 million people. It has the highest incidence of AIDS in the world–some estimates are up to half the population.
Our trip “detoured” us through London, where we met friends Alyson Jones and her two children to do some sightseeing. Loved visiting historical sites and hearing the background from a local! We were short on time, but we decided to throw caution to the wind and visit Buckingham Palace, anyway. It was a much further walk than we realized, and we were running quite late. We decided to take a shortcut at one spot, only to be delighted that we’d arrived in the nick of time for the changing of the guard–the one thing Anna most wanted to see! Very cool . . . if we’d done things any differently, she’d have missed it! (more…)
We’ve all heard sentiments about the journey being as important as the destination, and after this recent trip to Africa, I’d have to agree.
The days leading up to our departure were unbelievably full. I mean, I’m always busy, but this was ridiculous. Not only did I need to make arrangements to be gone for almost a month, with the normal details of making sure the bill collectors were held at bay, the plants didn’t fry, and the mailbox didn’t become host to nests of spiders, but there was also the bed and breakfast to think about and some major tasks to see about for events I’d be involved with after Africa. (more…)
“Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name, and they’re always glad you came. You want to be where you can see, our troubles are all the same. You want to be where everybody knows your name.”~~~~ Lyrics from “Cheers” theme song
You may remember the above excerpt from the popular sitcom that ran from September 1982 to May 1993. Think about those words for a minute. Don’t we all want a place we can go where the people are glad to see us? We all desire to belong somewhere to something.
A Spiritual Lesson from Cheers?
“Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name, and they’re always glad you came. You want to be where you can see, our troubles are all the same. You want to be where everybody knows your name.”~~~~ Lyrics from “Cheers” theme song
You may remember the above excerpt from the popular sitcom that ran from September 1982 to May 1993. Think about those words for a minute. Don’t we all want a place we can go where the people are glad to see us? We all desire to belong somewhere to something.
The timing of Jack, my father-in-law, being in the hospital and dying stunk. It really couldn’t have come at a worse time. I was extremely busy at my job, I had kids at home with the flu, and Denny, my husband, was out of the country on business. It all fell on me because no one else in the family could get there fast enough. Everyone was too far away, and even some of those didn’t care enough to make the trip. No wonder, either, because Jack had spent his life laying a foundation of mistrust, anger, and abandonment of his family and friends.