A Girl and Her Dream

Five years ago my husband, John, suggested that we go, with a group from our church, on a mission trip to Swaziland, Africa. I suggested he was crazy. All I could think of were bugs, snakes and heat. But, the Lord go a hold of my heart and sure enough, three months later my heart was wrecked with a love for the incredible people that we met. Since that time, our church has taken many more trips to Swaziland although we've not yet returned. We've been on other trips, including one to South Africa, but haven't been back to Swaziland. And yet, there is a part of me that will always have a heart for the Swazi people.

What I want to share today though, isn't about me, it's about a sweet little 9-year-old girl and HER dream to do something for the people in Swaziland. Sophia is the daughter of a friend of mine from church. She has never been to Swaziland but has heard about the Swazi kids and their need. I can assure you that Sophia's heart to help the hurting is either directly inherited, or learned, from her mom, Kirsten. What an amazing thing to pass on to your children.

Sophia didn't just talk about wanting to help the kids in Swaziland, she came up with a plan to sell hot cocoa to raise money. I could tell you the whole story but last Sunday it was aired on our local FOX news station and I think it's just best if you watch it yourself. I'm so proud of Sophia. She may be little but she has dared to dream big and because of that lives were changed. Incredible!

Lakeville Girl's Cocoa Stand Builds Home for African Family: MyFoxTWINCITIES.com

One Little Word - 2012

In my last blog I told you that I had more to share about my New Year’s Day planning and dreaming session. It’s finally here – the next installment regarding my dreams and plans for 2012. Yesterday, after reading my New Year’s blog post, my friend asked me what I was doing, specifically, to put myself in the “ready position” for all that God has for me. (She has a knack for tough questions!) When I talked to her today I told her that besides being more intentional about spending time reading my Bible, I’m also trying to be ready to say “Yes” to the things God asks me to do instead of “Let me get back to You on that” which, if I’m honest here, is sometimes my response.

I started 2011 by choosing one little word instead of writing down a bunch of resolutions (or goals) that would most likely be forgotten by January 15. I liked the one little word idea and clearly it’s becoming quite the trend because I’ve read numerous blogs about it already this year. Here are links to a few that I enjoyed reading:

• Thirty Handmade Days
  
• Becca Groves
• Your Homebased Mom

Usually, I’m the last person to the “trendy party” so the fact that I got on board before the ship sailed is pretty exciting to me.

You’ve probably already guessed that my word for 2012 is Trust. It’s funny . . . that isn’t what I was planning on it being. I was sure that my word was going to be Celebrate. Celebrating sounded like fun. But on January 1, as I was writing in my journal, I prayed that God would help me learn to trust Him more. I had been encouraging a friend (who may or may not have asked for my advice) to completely trust God with her life situation by saying “Who do you think is better at planning your life; you . . . or God?” (That may not sound all that much like encouragement but, believe me, that was my goal.) We all know that the correct answer to the question I posed is God but how does that play out in our everyday lives? It occurred to me, that I might lack a bit in giving God free rein in planning my life which, it seems, might possibly stem from my own lack of trust in His ability. And thus, my word for 2012 is Trust.

Pastor Lindsay Willis gave a sermon at our church on New Year’s Eve about choosing a Bible verse for 2012 – throwing it out like a fishing line – grabbing hold of it – pulling it taut – and not letting go! I like having a verse to go along with my one little word and believe me, there are a plethora of verses about trust in the Bible, but the one I chose for this year is from Psalm 143:8. "Let me hear of your unfailing love each morning, for I am trusting you. Show me where to walk for I give myself to you." It's been thrown out, grabbed hold of, pulled taut, and I'm not letting go!

Did you pick a word for 2012? I'd love to hear what it is.

A Fresh Start

I can’t remember a time when I’ve been so excited to welcome a new year. I have spent much of today thinking, dreaming and planning for 2012. This is not typical for me. I’m more of a “let’s see what happens” kind of a girl. But, not this year. This year, I am placing myself in the ready position (as our pastor, Rob Ketterling, calls it) for all that God has for me.

The first thing I did this morning was pull out the new Bible I bought last summer. I know it seems odd to buy a new Bible when you already own a perfectly good one, but I had two reasons for doing so. First off, my current Bible has been written in for many, many years and while that is comforting to go to when I’m looking for something specific, it also allows me to get kind of lazy when I’m reading the Word. With a new Bible, I can see things with fresh eyes.

The second reason I wanted a new Bible is that I specifically wanted a Bible with pink on it. I know; crazy right? I mean, who chooses a Bible by its color? But, that’s what I wanted; either pink and brown, or pink and black. And, it had to be the New Living Testament because that is my favorite version. Someone once told me that if you find a version of the Bible that is easy for you to read, buy it. You’ll read it more often if you can understand it. Once I found the version I like, in the color I wanted, I bought it right away and tucked it away just for today.

I also pulled out a pink pen for underlining and writing in my Bible this year. (I love pink in case you can’t tell.) I use a different color ink to write in my Bible each year and note the year on the inside cover. It’s just one of my little quirks. As a side note, I use my Creative Memories fine-tip markers in my Bible. They don’t bleed through the pages and come in a plethora of colors.

The last thing I pulled out for my devotional time was a new book (to me at least) by Sarah Young. Last year I read her devotional book, Jesus Calling. Since I loved it so much, I bought her book, Jesus Lives, for this year.

There is so much more to tell you about today; my word (see last year's blog) and verse for the year, and goals set, but it will have to wait for another post. I know that my firm foundation is in the Lord. He has great things planned for me, and for you. I am ready! I am excited! Are you?

Ordering Well

John and I go to the same person (Annette at the Family Salon) for our haircuts. Well, he get his haircut; I get haircuts, colors, pedicures and whatever else has to be done to keep me looking presentable. As I like to say, the maintenance just gets more and more expensive the older I get – kind of like a car.

Last night, John was in for a haircut and I was in this morning for “maintenance.” Annette told me that she asked John if I’d been busy baking in preparation for Christmas. I don’t bake. I used to, but when I discovered that most of the goodies I prepared went straight from the cooking rack into my mouth I decided that it was probably best I didn’t bake. I don’t mind eating other people’s goodies, mind you, and being as we have a fabulous bakery in town, I’m not afraid to call them either.

So, what did John say when asked if I’d been busy baking? He said, “No, Nancy’s more of a buyer than a baker.” Cracked me up! Though, as my friend Debbie says, “Knowing how to order well is important, too.”

36 Years of Communication

Wow! Another blog lapse. It seems I’ve got a lot in my head but not enough time to write it all down. So, today’s blog will be short, and somewhat unimportant, but perhaps a fun little glance into the Holte household.

I had a friend who told me recently that he reads my blog posts, and likes them, but well, “they are kind of long.” So for Chris, this one's for you.

Today, after months and months of procrastination and lack of planning, our plumber is at the house installing a couple of new faucets. Our kitchen faucet broke, oh probably a year ago, and my family has been not so patiently waiting for me to get a new one. This is the new kitchen faucet. The birds seemed very excited about it.

As is often the case, when shopping for household items, you start to notice that some other areas in your house could use a little help, too. And so it was for me when, after looking at new kitchen faucets, I wandered over to the bathroom faucet area and got to thinking, “You know, our bathroom faucet is getting pretty gross. These aren’t terribly expensive. Why don’t I just get a new one for the bathroom while I’m at it.”

I’m sure I talked to John about it before I placed my final order for both faucets, but he seems to have forgotten that. Thus, we just had the following conversation:

John: “What’s Leroy (our plumber) doing in the bathroom?”

Me: “He’s replacing the faucet.”

John: “Oh, you should have talked to me first.” (Really, I’m sure I did.)

Me: “Why?” (Not asked in a “why would I do that” kind of way but more in a “why, did you have another plan?” kind of way.)

John: “Well, I was thinking that we should just do the whole thing over.”

Me: (somewhat amazed) “Really? The whole bathroom?”

John: “No, just the sink.”

Me: “Well, I was thinking we’d re-do the sink when we re-do the whole bathroom.”

John: “Oh, well, that’s not going to happen anytime soon.”

Me: “And that’s why I just got the faucet.”

And that’s how communication works (or doesn’t) after 36 years of marriage.

Jesus Calling

I’ve been reading the devotional book Jesus Calling since the beginning of the year. It is truly the best devotional book I’ve ever read. It seems like every day the message has been written specifically for me. I jokingly tell people that I think the writer, Sarah Young, slips into my house at night, figures out what’s been going on in my life and then writes the devotion that I’ll read the next morning. I can say without a doubt that the Holy Spirit is using this devotional to change the way I do my life as a Christian.

In October the focus of the month has been living in the presence of Christ. In other words, instead of trying to do everything myself I should be calling on Him more often for strength, wisdom and peace. I woke up the other morning and realized that the previous day I’d spent much of my day frustrated and overwhelmed with way too much on my “to-do” list. I couldn’t remember calling on the Lord even one time during that previous day other than during my morning’s devotion. I felt like a failure at this whole “living in the presence of Christ” concept and confessed my sorrow and frustration to God.

I kid you not, when I opened my devotional that morning this was the first line I read: DO NOT BE DISCOURAGED by the difficulty of keeping your focus on Me. You see what I mean about the author sneaking into my house to write just the perfect thing for me to read the next day? It’s happened time and time again.

It’s easy for me to think that God is always just a tad bit disappointed in me and the way I live my life. I think the Enemy does his best to keep Christians discouraged so we feel unworthy to share the gospel. But, in truth I know that isn’t the case. One of the Bible verses for this day was Romans 8:33-34, “Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one—for God himself has given us right standing with himself. Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us.”

God doesn’t want me (or you) living in discouragement and frustration. He wants us living in the freedom of Christ. That is where we find the victory. That is where we find the peace. That is where we find life itself.

Last Day in Switzerland

My sincere apologies for the lag in my blog posts about our trip to Switzerland. A case of the shingles has slowed down my writing substantially but there was one very exciting thing that happened our last day in Switzerland that I want to share with you. There aren't, however, any pictures of the best part of the day so I'll share a few others with you that I took that day. Feel free to skip the pictures and move to the bottom of the post, if you'd rather.

Our plan for Tuesday evening was to go into the "Red Light District" of Switzerland (yes, they too have a "Red Light District") to minister to the prostitutes, most of whom have been brought into this position through human trafficking. In the morning we bought some small gifts to take to the girls and put them together in cute little bags in hopes of making them feel special.

At 2:00 we met up with Pastor Desmond, the pastor of the church we were working with, at the downtown Zurich train station. Maybe it's because I don't spend a lot of time at train stations that I was fascinated by all the activity. Busy place. Also, this is where the good pretzel stand was located so, of course, we had a pretzel snack to tide us over.

After leaving the train station we did a bit of shopping to stock up on chocolates or any other trinkets to bring home. After finishing up our shopping we went to the top floor of a store called Manor for a coffee break. (And yes, I do realize that it appears that all we did was eat on this trip but it didn't really feel that way at the time - though my scale might disagree.) One thing I noted about Manor is that they have the exact same logo as Herberger's has here in MN. Hmmm . . . makes one wonder. The following two pictures were taking from the little deck right outside the eating area. We were in full on tourist mode as we stood out there taking pictures. (As if my white tennis shoes and mega-camera hadn't already alerted the locals that we were tourists.)

One funny story is about the clock in the background of this next picture. You can see a closer up version in this blog post but as we were walking today I was told that this particular clock has the largest face in all of Europe. A couple hours later we were walking past it again and I heard a man tell his friend that this clock has the SECOND largest face in all of Europe. If Wikipedia is to be believed, it is in fact, the second largest clock face in Europe (by .3 meters) but the largest clock face on a CHURCH. So, now we know. Oh, and it's St. Peter Church in case you are curious.


Pastor Desmond knows the owner of the local watch shop and suggested since we had some time before beginning our ministry that we go there and visit the museum in the store's basement. Wow, fascinating clocks! This first one is just one that I found interesting. I can't really tell you much about it.

This huge clock has seven faces and dates back to the 14th century. I didn't catch what all of the seven faces do but besides the one that tells the time there is also one that shows the movement of five planets. Here's the incredible thing; ALL seven faces are powered by one big weight. Crazy huh?

The last clock here is one of four, I believe, that are still in existence. I believe one of the other ones belongs to the Queen of England. I wouldn't mind having it on my mantle.

After our tour in the clock/watch museum we were waiting outside and John decided to take a picture of the actual storefront. The man on the left coming out of the store is a security guard coming to tell John that he can't take pictures! (We'd been given permission to take photos downstairs.) Let's just say that this isn't the store you'd want to go to in Zurich for a cheap watch.

Around 7:00 we headed over to Starbucks to meet up with the women who would join us (actually lead us) into the red light district for our ministry time. To be clear, it was just the female members of our team who visited the girls. The men stayed at Starbucks (or outside of Starbucks actually because they closed at 8:00) to pray for us.

I have to admit I was a little apprehensive about going into the red light district. I had NO idea what to expect. Well, I had some idea, but to be honest, it was much less offensive than I was anticipating; at least from the street view. Our "guide" had a bit of a "route" that she usually takes. She said she rarely sees the same girls because they are moved to and from other countries every few months to comply with visa requirements. We spoke with a number of girls; some in windows waiting for their evening's work and others just sitting outside of bars. The amazing thing is that all of them were so grateful for the gifts we brought and welcomed the information we had to share with them about Christ. The one girl whose face still sticks in my mind was from Romania. She appeared to be no more than 17-years-old. It made me so sad that she was forced into such a nasty way of life. Tragic!

There was a moment in the evening that was totally unexpected and one I will never forget as long as I live. We were outside of a bar talking to about four girls. We were probably there for about 15 minutes but before we left one of the girls prayed for US! For real!

Let's say you gave me a list of things I would never anticipate happening in my lifetime that looked something like this and told me to pick the one I would least expect to occur:

1) You will go sky-diving.
2.) You will adopt a child from a foreign country.
3.) You will have twenty grandchildren.
4.) You will be prayed for by a prostitute.

I would put "being prayed for by a prostitute" at the top of the list of things least likely to happen; and, by the way, I don't much expect the other things to happen either (with the possible exception of sky-diving, but shhh. . . don't mention that to my mother . . . or John.) It was the most surreal and humbling moment. You can be sure that I had to wipe away a few tears.

And thus, an amazing moment capped off an incredible trip.