lake pics. more on flickr.

the lake lessons

well i'm back from the Lake and two days later i still don't know what to write about. you know how you go on a trip and people ask, "how was it?" and then you say, "oh it was GREAT" so much happened and you don't know where to begin??? anbody feeling me? my trip was great, why? several reasons including: i got to get to know the jernigan's better. they have lucas, 5, and luisa, almost 2. it was fun playing with them especially when louisa started calling me marmar, which is what my nephew says. it was bonding to spend to time with ju and andrew and start to really unpack their hearts for ministry. check out their blog (linked to the right under jernigans) let me get side tracked for a moment... thanks for all the prayers driving. we made it safe, only after being pulled over three times? i think that's right. and having to 'negotiate' with the crooked police officer. this is a bone of contention for me. they literally have you in a tough spot. i know better than to give them my real license when they pull you over because then they will demand more money, at least that's what i've been told, so i made a copy. but then they want your insurance or something so that you will have to pay them in order to get your paper work back. since i was in claire's car i really didn't want her insurance card to be taken. anyway- 15 minutes later and more money given to her than what someone who does an honest day of labor would make in a month, we're on our way. ok next topic. back to the reasons why this past week were amazing. not only getting to fellowship with the jernigans and steve buchele ( he rode up with gifty and me....checkout his blog through andrews blog...i don't have him linked yet) but we also got to fellowship with the short term team in from alabama. it's such a blessing to have people come visit. i now it's expensive and that money would go a long way not spent on plane tickets, but you just never know what God does in and through people coming and the ones who live here. i worked all week capturing footage to tell two stories. one about the jernigans' call to Lake Bosomtwi and the way God was working in and through the group from Sylacauga, ALABAMA. so fellowship was amazing listening to steve sing and play acoustic guitar and prepare questions for our minds to start thinking. as i am retrospecting i learned something amazing this week. for me getting to film is a blessing, and this week God revealed through several different people that caputring people's hope and their souls is It. in this season that is what i want to try and do. i think i knew this, surely, but it hit me hard this past week. i do want to take aethestically pleasing shots whether still or video, but capturing the true identitiy of people is hard and i think that's where God comes in. this is His media, His camera, His stories so it's interesting to see how He glorifies it. there was a specific moment when my paradigm shifted this week from just getting 'the shot' to capturing truth. i'm so thankful because it takes something i'm already passionate about and intensifies it. this past week i enjoyed talking and just stiiting with ghanians more than i have the past 8 months. tyring to learn twi and speaking it so badly that you just laugh together as they try to understand me and me them i started realizing God is giving me more and more a heart for Ghanaians. isn't that true of wherever our Jeruselam is? where God has us day in and day out, He is the one who gives us the capabliity to love. even crooked police officers! God gave me more of a desire this week than ever before to just love. when you take one person's picture here, they inevitably want more more more. so it's a great opportunity to smile and love on children, as long as they don't start beeting each other trying to be the one in front of the camera. i just think God is opening my eyes to this media more than i've ever imagined. in undergrad broadcasting courses i took a communication law class and ethics to understand the importance of telling the true story, but the truth becomes so much more powerful when you continue a journey with The Truth.

leaving for the lake

it's 6:02am and i seriously could call home and somebody would probably be up on friday night, yet i just woke up on saturday morning isn't that neat. anyway. i'm leaving this am to go to lake bosumtwe near kumasi in the asante region. when God reminds you and you think about it please pray from feb. 10-19th for the jernigan's, our time together as we film for their overview ministry documentary and their short term team coming in that i'll be doing videography with. that was a confusing sentence, but it's too early to go back and retype. i'm not generally a wake up at 5:30am kind of girl! i won't have internet access until i'm home so i'll update you then!

love to all-margaret

new look and camping

i decided to give my blog a new look. to me it seemed the black background was hard to look at...started making me see lines! and I just added my friends Jimmy and Stefanie (the nances) to the links section. visit their page. they have great sayings listed people say here in Ghana.

now for the camping title. last night was our lights out night and it is so hot inside our house. gifty came up with a great idea. the breeze was blowing and it was pretty cool outside, so we decided to 'camp' in our driveway. you remember moldy bed? well he's still hanging around outside leaned up against the wall with no where to go and with dry season here...it's not so moldy. so we got him down and dusted him off. we put a mattress on top and moved it out to where the breeze was blowing and slept outside. it was GREAT. lyle if you read this, you will be proud. no tent, no netting. just a hard mattress and the cool night air. we lit a mosquito coil and only once was i awoken by the annoying buzz of two mosquitos having a fight around my head. i didn't get one bite, and i had a pretty nice amount of sleep. i think we'll probably do that again! although i'm wondering for people who pass by if they were thinking..."is that a white ... girl ... sleeping outside?" YES!

games

watching the ghana vs. nigeria football game and it's exciting. it's been 15 years since ghana beat them....we'll see how it turns out!!!

121

i think this is interesting. on my flickr page most of the photos have been viewed maybe 20, 30 or so times. but the picture with me holding a chicken has been viewed 121 times. i wonder why? that's crazy to me. :) i'm going to see what other animal i can find to hold next!

random thoughts

Why is it as humans we are always looking forward to the next “something?” I am living out a passion of doing videography in another country for God and yet there’s a part of me that wants more. Why? I think it’s the un-content human heart.

God blesses us over and over and yet we still want more. I used to read about the Israelites complaining in the desert after God provided over and over and think, “How could you not see He was taking care of you.” Yet part of my heart has israelitis.

When in a state of question asking to Daddy, I wonder is it really to glorify God or are we really saying God “make me feel validated.”

I desire a heart that is truly content. I desire a Paul heart where no matter the circumstance I can sing.

I know my God is amazing. Tonight is a great night, even though my heart is a little heavy with burdens in which I should let go. I want to know that I’m known by God, which I think would help to me to know that not to be known fully by humans is ok. Confused?

m!