I texted a friend at the end of a peaceful Sunday to ask how I could pray for her. We were both looking at the week ahead with bulging eyes at the tasks laid out before us. We decided to spend the first five minutes of every day this week listening to a worship song and offering our day, tasks and plans to God as a spiritual act of worship.

This is the one where Chris admits throwing me in front of a bee to save himself. Note: I DID get stung.

This message also goes right to the heart of fear and speaks powerfully, boldly and in ways that might really help you or someone you know.

I finally feel like myself again after spending a few weeks under the weather. It feels incredible! When I finally started to come out of the haze, I remembered I had let go of a precious habit. I have prayed with at least one friend every week for years…

Chris shared two angles of one story this week. Context changes everything in life - relationships, news, finances, everything. But especially when it comes to Jesus. With Jesus, the context is always love. It’s always about Him pursuing a relationship with you. Chris taught a powerful truth this week that Jesus will do anything, including make us uncomfotable or inconvenience us to get a platform to speak to our hearts. He wants to fill your empty nets, but the way He does it is often different than what we expect!

I was sick this week with a head cold that left me foggy during the day and sleepless at night. I rarely made it to my treasured morning quiet time with the Lord before the day got going. My teenage son had a hard day in the midst of it. Two hard things happened to him on the same day, one of them requiring a tough conversation between us.

I was bummed to be too sick to make it to Chris and I’s normal Tuesday night Facebook live stream this week. I was VERY happy, however, to be able to still gather with the church virtually on Thursday night to pray together… though I coughed through it!

We had much to pray about this week as some of our beloved church members are really battling with Covid. Their small groups showed up, and we prayed with passion. And God has started moving!

Here’s a message from Chris about this weeks’s sermon. It was great!

Am I good enough for Jesus? Am I good enough for the Church? Am I good enough for you? It’s hard to accept where you stand with Jesus unless you really know Him. I truly believe that if you know just a little bit more about the love of Jesus you will be able to answer these tough questions. Yes you are good enough and I can tell you why.

Hurricane Ike devastated the Gulf Coast of Texas in September 2008. Three years prior, I lost the home I grew up in as a result of Hurricane Rita in the same area. The destruction of Hurricane Ike was record-breaking. I was immediately hired as a crisis counselor with firsthand experience in this unexpected kind of loss. I worked with first responders, school children and staff, churches, addicts, business owners, emergency services, homeless men and women, and everyone in between.

I got live on Facebook on Thursday nights for “Southpoint Prays”. It’s a short, but powerful time for us to gather virtually and pray. This week, I got fired up about who Jesus is and the power in His Name and His Church while we gathered. If you have a moment, join in here. Send me a message with your prayer requests!

Chris told the story of the capital-c Church this week at church. He even dared to ask, “Does the Church still work?” “Is the Church still hope for the world?” “Is it all that Jesus said it would be?” They are questions I’ve asked in hardest moments of life away from my family in the name of that Church.

It was a warm winter's day today, so Benjamin and I sought a shady afternoon adventure. Lifa has started rugby practice at school again, and I wanted to keep Benjamin distracted with nature rather than despair. I drove to a park in the first Cape Town neighborhood we lived in.

Have you ever known your thought life was out of control but didn't know how to change it? Recently, I felt betrayed by my own binging brain. Lies, confusion, worry, frustration - you name it, I gorged on it. I knew exactly what was happening. I could look outside of myself and see God's hand on me, yet my state of mind was wrought with negativity.

This week a friend sent me a picture with a thank you note. It was a picture of a letter I had written for the Help Club for Mom’s book. She said, “These words really ministered to me today.” I went back to that letter, and guess what… they ministered to me! Those words were certainly from God’s hand and not my own because I needed them for myself this week too. I wanted to share it here with all of you in case they might speak to you too.

Written on Monday, June 26

It's a new day in South Africa! President Ramaphosa is leading us carefully out of a month-long level 4 lockdown. People can gather in small groups, and kids can go to school with some extra precautions in place. Lifa was JAZZED to go to school this morning. Benjamin, however, lives his best life on lockdown with his brother's full attention.

We all get to the “WHY” crossroad in our faith journey.

Why do bad things happen? Why did Jesus say He works out all things for the good of those who love Him when life looks like this?

This week at church, Chris shared why he still believes despite all he’s been through. He gives practical and powerful truth for you and your why too! Check it out! His teaching starts at 23:30.

My soul got tired this week. Kindness and gentleness escaped me. Instead, my mind flipped and flopped, desperately seeking an anchor for my soul.

It's in the aftermath, after we've spent ourselves and prayed our most faith-filled prayers, where the prowling enemy's voice slinks in to our tired souls..

I hope to write more about this soon. I shared vulnerably with our church and the Help Club Moms live on Thursday night about it. Last week in South Africa - the violence, injustices, and outrages circumstances that people I love found themselves in - it got to me. It hurt my hoper. I wrestled and struggled in a way that I never have. I poured my tears out and confessed my low place to my husband. I wrestled through it with his compassion and care right next to me.

There’s an update! There hasn’t been an update in a very, very long time! If you’re new here: YAY! I’m glad you’re here. You can catch up on the visa saga here.

Benjamin and I headed downtown bright and early on Monday morning, armed and ready with snacks, toys and passports in hand. We arrived in our immigration lawyer’s office on the 27th floor to sign some documents and get briefed…

We have started to love our silly Tuesday nights online. Chris and I pop onto the church’s Facebook page to do a live broadcast. It’s the best way we can “get together” with people during Covid. We’ve been in some version of lockdown since we started leading Southpoint Church, so it also is a fun way for people to get to know us. This week, we started our online chat semi-normally…

It’s not easy for an American pastor to speak to South Africa in the midst of heart-wrenching turmoil and civil unrest. It’s especially not easy when he’s addressing the question in everyone’s minds - whether fueled by fear, fury, anxiety, sorrow, or a storm of thoughts and feelings.. WHY.

Why is South Africa here?

Chris poured himself out before God to prepare this message, and it was so powerful. I listened to it twice because I needed it this week!