I think we can all agree that this is a strange time. No one could have seen this season coming and prepared properly for it... but maybe that is the beauty of it. 

As I am back in the states for the moment, two words keep coming up in my mind.

Different 

There is nothing normal about this season at all. It really is so different. 

It's forced different plans, different routines and different environments for some. 

When I landed in Togo on March 1, there is no way I could have imagined getting back on a plane and returning back to America... I probably would have told you that there was nothing that could cause me to get on a plane and leave.

Obviously, things are different now... 

I am back in the states, working on French with my teammates and working on projects that are going to help propel the ministry forward the moment we get back. 

Different isn't a bad word... it's a great word! Yeah, it can be uncomfortable, but it's usually in the most uncomfortable moments that we see God do the most incredible things. 

Here's the deal... when I look back on this season, I want to say, "that season was altogether different... but because of it, I am altogether different because of what God did in me". 

I hope that this different today helps prepare us to make a Gospel difference tomorrow.

Solitude

When I flew back into the states and eventually made it to my hometown in Bradenton, FL, I had to go into a time of "self-isolation". 

Isolation sounded like a terrible word to this very extroverted extrovert. 

I was reminded of another word when in my "isolation"... "solitude". 

If I was going to have to be isolated, I wanted to make it purposeful. The spiritual discipline of solitude completely goes against everything that I am...

I don't like sitting still and being quiet... I just don't. I'm sad to say that it has taken some serious practice to sit still for longer than ten minutes.

Through this time of practicing solitude, I have been blown away by how much the Holy Spirit has been so evidently moving in and around me. 

I have written pages of notes from simply sitting, resting and listening to what the Lord wants to do in me.  

I love this part of the story of Joseph!

He has just revealed himself to his brothers and immediately begins pointing to what God did through his circumstances.

"So it was not you who sent me here, but God."

Joseph sees the movement of God through all of his circumstances and God had prepared Him for this very moment. 

Joseph was different than when his brothers threw him in that pit. 

For me, I want to be different after all of this and I am asking God to do that in my time of solitude with Him.

Today is a day to remember all the amazing mothers in our lives. This is a day that I love to post a picture of my mom and make a very insincere comment about how she worships the ground I walk on. It’s become a tradition for me. I try to make sure my mom actually knows how I feel off of social media but I do have a reputation to keep intact in the social media world.

Though my Mother’s Day experience is one that I get to joke about because I do have such an amazing mom in my life, for some this day is unbearably hard. 

I have a luxury that others do not. 

Some children are grieving the loss of moms. For them this day can be a day of pain as they do not have the ability to be with their mom and celebrate them today.

Some moms are having to live in agony as they are missing children that have been taken from them far too soon. 

This week has been an especially hard week for African American moms. I can't imagine the pain, sadness and fear that comes with this holiday for some. It's hard to think how so many moms have had to have some of the hardest conversations with their children this week about the cold, harsh evil in this world.

Some moms may feel alone today because their spouse is gone. 

My heart goes out to the families who have been affected by the death of fathers and husbands. This has been a hard few days as some have to navigate a new reality without a husband and father. 

For some, today is hard for you to look at all the social media posts celebrating mothers because all your memories of your mom are of pain and suffering. 

I got to spend time with my sister and cousin today. My cousin is fostering 2 little girls and my sister is fostering an adorable 8-month-old. As I watched them and held them, I couldn't help but think of the confusion this day may bring for some as they celebrate multiple moms in their life.... but I was also overwhelmed with joy because these girls get to be loved so well by incredible moms today. 

I know today can be hard for some and I am hurting with you. 

Let today be about all the moms in our lives. Celebrating great memories, mourning and crying with others, being incredible families and moms for those who don't have any. 

We couldn't do life without moms and I don't think we would want to if we could. 

So, hug your mom, celebrate her even if it is only by memory. Then look around and cry with those who need to cry, hug those who feel alone, be family for those with none and never forget that there are so many different stories all around us. 

​Listen, learn and love. 

Today may be great for some and hard for others. Let's redeem this Mothers Day and make it a day where we "bear one anothers burdens" while celebrating all the woman in our lives that we call mom.


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Who you do life and ministry with will make or break you. 

That is evident in Exodus 17 when Moses and the Israelites go to battle against Amalek.

Then Amalek came and fought with Israel at Rephidim. So Moses said to Joshua, "Choose for us men, and go out and fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand." So Joshua did as Moses told him, and fought with Amalek, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. Whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed, and whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed. But Moses' hands grew weary, so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it, while Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side. So his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. And Joshua overwhelmed Amalek and his people with the sword.
- Exodus 17:8-13 ESV

I don't think there is much to add here! 

I think the main question is, who are you going into battle with?

It's not a matter of if you are going into battle... I mean, if you are a part of the Family of God it's pretty clear...

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 
- Ephesians 6:12 ESV

So, it's not a question of if... The question is, are you prepared?

Who are the people in your life who will hold your arms up when the battle is long, hard and ugly? 

Maybe that's why life and ministry has been so tough for you lately. You are called to fight the battle... but not alone. 

"How does it feel?!"

This has been the most asked question that I have received over the last two weeks or so.

I recently became fully funded and am getting ready to take flight to Togo in the coming weeks.

I have been on this partnership development journey for just about two years now. It's been three and a half years since I committed to joining the 6 Degree Initiative in Togo.

I have been traveling and talking to people for the last two years about what we are doing and how I get to be a part of it for the last two years, but being a couple weeks away from my departure date, I am having a hard time wrapping my mind around what is about to happen.

I am moving to Africa! 

I am learning a new language! 

These are pretty big things and something I don't want to step into lightly. 

It truly is surreal... and to be honest, I'm not sure it will hit me until after I have been on the field for a little bit. 

Here is what I am learning while preparing for the launch date and transition onto the field:

1. Ask God to show you transitional struggles 

I think these will be different for everyone as they transition to the field or any other new area of life, ministry or occupation. 

I have been spending time asking God to reveal to me what areas of life I need to grow in as I step into the unknown of moving overseas. The best way I process through things is by journaling. So, I spend time praying and then start journaling my thoughts. 

I know myself well enough to know that stepping into a new country, culture and language is going to be especially difficult for me. I am going to be in a place where I can't add a whole lot of value. I won’t be able to understand what is being said and even communicate at the most basic level until I get a grasp on the language. 

That is going to be an identity shaker for me.

This is just an example of a specific struggle for me that God revealed to me. Ask God to show you those transitional struggles and begin praying through those. 

Yeah, the transition process will be hard, but our God is a pretty big God and can hold you in His arms while you step into the unknown. 

2. Pray... A Lot

Man, I'll be honest... ever since becoming fully funded and starting to talk about the departure date, the enemy has hit me hard with serious doubt and fear. The type that can only be prayed through.

In any major transition in life where you are stepping into something God has called you to, it is an affront to the enemy. 

It has brought me to my knees most days, asking God for courage and strength. 

The transition process requires you to pray a lot! 

Invite some people into this with you. Bearing one another’s burdens is something that we are called to do in the family of God. Share the struggles and go to battle in prayer together. 

This has made all the difference for me!

3. Say Goodbye Well

This was brought up a while back for me while I was at a cultural training. I kind of pushed it aside and thought this wasn't a big deal for me. 

I was wrong...

It hit me that I will be leaving, not knowing the exact time I will be returning. I suddenly felt a strong conviction to let everyone important in my life know how important they really are. Even thousands of miles apart won’t change that, and I want them to know how much they mean to me. 

I have been working on doing this by writing letters. This transition is a big step, but I haven’t done it alone.

4. Step into the Discomfort

Something that I have learned in the past 2 years is that when you step into the discomfort you get a front row seat of seeing God do some incredible things.

Any sort of transition is very uncomfortable. It is so natural for us to shy away from the discomfort for obvious reasons but let me plead with you not to run from it. 

It is such a beautiful place to be when you look around you and say, " Father, this can only be by your strength". Discomfort is woven into the lives of those who are obedient to the call of God all throughout scripture... but so is Supernatural movement from God in and through those lives. 

Don't shy from the discomfort. Willingly and expectantly step into it and watch God move.​ 

Every time I am in Togo, West Africa, I notice something in every village we enter in to.

An idol.

They all look different. Some look like a blob of cement or clay and others are a little bit more detailed. No matter what, every village has one. 

These idols represent a deity that the people in that area sacrifice to. It's like when you enter your neighborhood and there is a sign with the name of your neighborhood on it. This sign represents where you live.

The difference is, you probably don't give up the only meat that you and your family will eat that week, to this stone image.

You don't look at that sign for protection or peace. 

You probably aren't concerned with your sign not being pleased with you and as a result becoming cursed.

This is a daily worry and responsibility that these people deal with.

It is so easy to see how the enemy works in this area of the world. I mean we all know the ten commandments, right? 

"Thou shalt worship a stone image"? 

Kids are born every single day in Togo and grow up thinking that they have to please this stone and the deity that it represents to have a prosperous life. They will worry about not having the proper amount of food to sacrifice to this idol and go without food themselves. 

It is so easy to sit back and think, "wow! How could they live that way?". "How don't they see how foolish this is?" 

I grew up as a pastors kid and am so thankful and blessed to have been brought up in Gospel centered family that shared the love and hope of Jesus. One day I made my own decision to follow Him and was forever changed.

​The reality is, these people have not. They have grown up in a family that clung to the hope of an idol. They don't know about the One True God who created them. They don't know about His only Son who sacrificed Himself for them so that they will never have to sacrifice anything to find favor. They don't know that they can have hope, peace and freedom in Christ. 

Romans 10:14-15 says, 

"How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”

Can you imagine living a life trying to please someone and never being able to live up to the demands? Can you imagine living in fear and desperation, just looking for some hope? Can you imagine being so lost that you just didn't know what to do any more? 

The answer to all of those should be, YES! 

Because before you knew Jesus, that was you. 

Maybe you were lucky enough to not grow up in the eleventh poorest country in the world. What a blessing! 

Yeah, your life before Christ may have looked a little different than someone who has grown up in a voodoo culture. 

But the result is still the same. You. Were. Lost...

Now, you're not! Now you have a hope! You have Good News to share with those who don't know! 

Never take for granted the gift of salvation. 


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West Africa has a dark history of wars, colonization and slavery. The coast stretching from Ghana through Togo, Benin and Nigeria was formerly known as the Slave Coast. This area was conquered by the French, British and Portuguese all at different times throughout the salve trade. The countries of Togo and Benin saw over 10% of the entire western slave exportation. 

It has been a dark past as you can imagine. 

Years removed from this horrible past and there is a different bondage today. This area has become the birthplace of voodoo. Lomé, Togo is the leader of all fetish sales in the world. 

Every year on January 10th there is a massive voodoo festival. On the beaches of Ouida, Benin thousands of people will gather together standing in the exact place their ancestors boarded crowded ships to be shipped somewhere to the west. 

In their freedom today, they will commemorate their ancestors by sacrificing goats to idols and participating in other rituals led by voodoo priests and priestesses. People come to experience the supernatural and often to participate in it. 

As I stood there on those beaches taking in my surroundings, I couldn't help but feel an incredible weight on my body. Things seemed to move in slow motion and those scenes will be etched in my mind until the day I die. 

I saw free people celebrate their freedom by worshiping deities in the form of idols. They were seeking a supernatural power that would save them and were becoming enslaved to it.  

In this specific area their main deity is the python. People, in service to this deity, will cut slits in their forehead and cheeks to mimic the breathing holes of the python. This is an act to signify that they are in service to the deity of the python. 

Even today as I sit back and think about those scenes, I can sometimes feel the heaviness of that day. 

These people have overcome years of exportation of precious human life and now choose to enslave themselves to a supernatural power in the form of an object or animal. It is so clear to see the foot print of the enemy here. 

This is why I am going. I have been set free by the blood of Christ and I can now live freely! By the gift of grace, it cost me nothing! It is free and I am free in Christ. That is a message that needs to be shared with the people enslaved that have never known or heard. What an opportunity to bring the Good News that they can find freedom in Christ and be forever changed!   
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