Last night we had our first Extending Hands, Inc. board meeting! Now, I know this does not seem very exciting to most but it was momentous for me as I have waited a long time for this to actually come together. I was a little giddy!We have four people on the board as of right now (we missed you Carrie) and are praying about the fifth person to join us. Bob Barnett is the pastor of Woodstock Bible Church and a trusted friend and confidant. He has a passion for Africa and a heart for the broken and hurting not only here but in Zambia. Sandy Woznicki is a professional counselor and is gifted at what she does. Her heart for women and her desire for wholeness and healing in women's lives is what brings her "to the table". My wonderful husband Ben is number three and has been a part of all things Africa since I first went, to backing my vision for Extending Hands, to doing all the boring paperwork and filing of things. He has put a lot of time and energy into this already and I can't wait for him to go some day and see the people that are affected by him doing all the ho hum necessities of starting a non-profit. Thank you honey! Then there is little ole me. I still don't know why God is using me for His plan but I know that it stirs my soul and is the desire that God has placed in my heart. It still blows my mind when I think about what has happened and how God has moved in my life throughout the past few years to finally get to this point.
I was reading through my journal yesterday as I was getting ready for our meeting and I read a page from May 21st of this year. It was written about 38,000 feet up in the air after leaving Zambia. I will give you a portion of it-"In between landing in Chicago and just yesterday being in Zambia, I feel torn between the two. I am overwhelmed with emotions as I sit here and contemplate getting off this plane. What will it mean when I get off? I am scared to death at the thought of what I have taken on, the depth of it. The things that have to happen, have to 'go right'.....I do not know what the future will bring. Lord, help me follow You just today."- It was the 'just today' part that grabbed me and I thought about how this whole process has been hundreds of 'just today's'. Just today I will listen to You, Lord. Just today I will follow You even though I don't know where we are going. Just today I will do and move on what You ask of me because that is all I have to give.....just today.
Subsequently, I am reminding myself that the hours of today are not my own, my house is not my own, my strength definitely is not my own and that God has given me today to love others and love Him and glorify Him first and foremost. The simplicity and complexity of that statement weaves it's self throughout my mind in moments of clarity of spirit and selfishness of heart. It is simple when I am truly focused on God but it is hard when my own humanness and selfish pride decide to intersect. How easy it is to go about my day with what I think God wants me to do, as opposed to truly what God would have for me in this 24 hour period. Last night while sitting around that table, we looked at the needs of the future while looking back at how God has taken all those 'today's' and strung them together to take us to where we are now. For our God is the God of yesterday, today and tomorrow. Thank you Bob, Sandy and Ben for taking time out to engage in this endeavor of love to the widows and women of Zambia. I have a feeling it is going to be quite a ride!
