So Not Ideal.

We’ve all had them.

If you say you haven’t, I would call you a cotton headed ninny muggin. Okay, so maybe I wouldn’t call you that, but I would highly believe you to be a liar.

The “them” I am talking about is properly referred to as hair dramas that you wish were saved for “yo mama.” 

What did you do this time, Mary??

I really wish I could say this was a sudden lapse in judgement or a temporary psychosis, but I had actually been thinking about re-dying my hair for the past few months. Mind you: deciding to dye your caucasian-textured hair in the middle of Africa may not yield the results you desire/fantasize about while in reality being constrained my day-to-day “all nat-ur-al” lions mane. 

So why the sudden urge to dye a portion of my hair bleach-blonde? Yes, feel free to gasp. Bleach blonde. I blame it solely, entirely, cent-percent on Elaina. 

There I was. Sitting in a café listening to a John Piper Podcast on women’s beauty and their adornment not being in the things of this earth (literally.. could the Lord have been warning me anymore??), and I receive a phone call. Little miss Elaina C is at the pharmacy and found hair dye. She decided she was going to dye her hair dark brown and wanted to know if I wanted join her [apparently it's Transformation Tuesday on Instagram]. I’m working on being more spontaneous and adventurous, so I said, “Sure, let’s do bleach blonde.”

See how it’s all her fault? In all reality, I’m working on my extremes. Being adventurous can include spontaneously dying one’s hair, without jumping from one side of the spectrum to the other. Less, I divulge, I’m in progress. Sanctification doesn’t happen overnight, and apparently me learning from my past hair horrors doesn’t happen overnight either. Have I never told you about the Jennifer Aniston cut that turned out like the Cindy Brady cut? About the Pixie cut? Let’s chat sometime..

So what happened?

“MY HAIR’S BLUE. IT’S BLUE! AND I’M GETTING MARRIED IN A WEEK…. so not ideal.”-Bride Wars

Okay, so it’s not really blue. I’m being dramatic. But it is really orange.

It’s not that bad. It’s not that… baaad. Okay, it’s just confirmation on why I should never touch my hair. I’ve now decided to pack up my bags, move far away from hair salons and hair dye (apparently Africa wasn’t far enough), and I’m going to become a Mennonite so that people can restrict me from ever touching my hair… too far? Scratch that, dramatic effect sometime gets the best of me.

Really, there is hope though! There’s always hope. Praise Him! I would like to say, Elaina and LB look beautiful. Their hair turned out great. LB’s locks make her look like the sweet and innocent, 1990s version of Britney Spears. Elaina’s hair makes her look like an arab princess. Therefore, I am encouraged that even though we have a limited selection of colors, we can fix this. And I’m all for that!

Until next time, which hopefully will be an update on how I have ultimately learned my lesson and will never again fall into the horrid temptation to mess with what the good Lord gave me, I’ll leave you with the encouragement my roommates gave me during my crisis.

“Well, it is transformation Tuesday on Instagram.”-LB

Staring at me, Elaina says, “I’m thinking of a witch. No, not you. You’re hair is like a lion’s, mine is dark like a witch and LB’s is like a wardrobe. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe!” To which I mentally reply, “CS Lewis would be so proud.”

“This is just to encourage you. It could be your whole hair looking like this.”-Elaina then proceeds to show me a YouTube video of “Orange Hair Dye Gone Wrong.”

“It could always be worse. You could have no hair. I mean, what if your eyebrows were like that.”-mix of LB and Elaina

“It could be a great conversation starter. A great sermon illustration: contentment in Christ.”-LB

“You’re so less likely to get hit by a car now. It’s like a reflector on your head.”-Elaina

#ilovemyroommates

Laura Beth + Tyler

History

Once upon a time, there was a beautiful, grace-filled, southern belle named Laura Beth. She grew up in a small, fanciful town in North Carolina with a family that highly valued cultivating her relationship with Christ. Throughout college LB sought to deepen and enhance her relationship with Christ. She became involved with a college ministry at Peace College called Cru. In the summer of 2011, the Lord led her to go on a stateside mission trip, also known as summer project, to Santa Cruz, California. It was that summer that her heart began to break for people all across the world who were hungry to know and experience God’s love. Senegal specifically was laid upon her heart.

Now meet Tyler. Tyler is a very lovable man of God. He grew up in North Carolina with parents who loved the Lord as well. After his sophomore year of college, Tyler really began pursuing a relationship with Christ and began growing in his faith. Tyler was involved in the Cru movement at North Carolina State University (go Wolfpack!). He actually led a bible study with our team leader, Ryan. He was involved with Cru’s intermural outreach that emphasized building bridges with students that were less likely to attend a Cru meeting without a personal invite. If I could briefly describe Tyler’s character it would be that he is someone who cares deeply about being intentional with everyone and loves people well.

How They Met 

Well, let’s just be honest. This is the part that we all want to know about. Was it love at first sight? Did you say anything stupid? After you met, did you walk around with stars in your eyes for days?

This is LB’s version:

” The Friday night of Cru’s Fall Retreat, I was sitting with my small group and I heard this voice in the group beside me say “I’ll close us in prayer.” Taken away by his heart for the Lord and how cute he was, I began talking to my friend, Kaitlin, about who he was. It wasn’t until Saturday night, as I was filling up cups of ice with a staff member, that this young man came through the line, grabbed a cup and said, ‘thank you.’ With butterflies in my stomach I responded with an awkward, ‘You’re welcome.’ Little did I know that a few moments later I would lock eyes with the man that would later become my husband.

As I was finishing up my job, I noticed he was looking at me from across the room. When I was finished, I started talking to Aaron Adams about playing the game Signs. Tyler decided to join in on the conversation and smoothly looked at me and said, “Hi, I’m Tyler.” We spent the evening laughing, giggling, and playing Signs. At the end of the night I pulled a Cinderella and said, “I’ll see you tomorrow at the meeting,” when really I was leaving the retreat before then! You gotta keep the mystery, you know.

After spending a whole week of his life without me, he decided that was too long! (Totally a joke!) I received a Facebook message asking for my phone number. And then he asked me out for dinner and dancing on our first date on November 18, 2011! Throughout our relationship, I still had a burden for the people of Senegal and I knew the Lord was calling me to invest a year of my life here, proclaiming his name in a nation that is over 95% Muslim. Even though I’d fallen head over heels in love with Tyler, the Lord is worth following and He is trustworthy in regards to all aspects of my life.

Over my senior year, I continued to pray for the Lord’s will in our relationship. I knew that if this was the Lord’s will for us to head in the direction of marriage, as was me coming to Senegal, this would only strengthen our relationship and provide clarity. It was not easy, as our relationship with the Lord can be, but He calls us to love and trust Him. So, in October, I fully surrendered to the Lord’s plans and let go of mine. I got on an airplane headed to Senegal, without Tyler.

Much to my surprise, Tyler actually eventually did end up in Senegal with me (even if it was only for a week and three months late). Here’s a video that highlights the most recent progression in our relationship. Please enjoy these wonderful photos that Mary took for our Save The Dates. “

Gives a new meaning to shine bright like a diamond

I love this one.

she’s such a beauty

Bonne Année! [Bringing in the New Year right...]

I am unashamedly sitting in our room at the Phare D’Esperance (Lighthouse of Hope) eager to inform you of the events that occurred on New Year’s Eve. Okay, so I am also dancing around the fact that I am listening to Celine Dion’s My Heart Will Go On… There’s no judgement here, you judgers.

Can I just be honest? Of course I can. Dakar on New Year’s puts our Fourth of July celebrations to shame. No. Joke. Here’s what had happened…

Since we’re having our Pamoja conference here at the Phare, we decided to have a dance party. Two observations: 1. Who would have known our boss would be so great at Gangnam Style? 2. Senegalese music is so fast, but they dance so slow. I prefer lé Wobble.

Around 11 p.m. we walked up to the top of the lighthouse that overlooks all of Dakar to watch the fireworks. My team of seven, our boss Pascal and his family, and our students watched Dakar as it was beautifully illuminated with “le feux d’artifice” (fire works, translates to artificial fire, who knew?…).

The whole “Island Time” thing or “Senegal Time” doesn’t disappear just because it is New Years though. We celebrated the end of one year and the birth of another for about 10 minutes. No one knew what time it really was! Fireworks began going off about 15 minutes before my clock said 12:00 a.m., and they continued until long after 1:00 a.m. If there hadn’t been as beautiful and as many fireworks, I would say it would have been anticlimactic. Thank goodness for there not being any laws against the selling and setting off of fireworks here otherwise this would be a very different blog post.

I can’t even begin to describe to you what the city looked like. There’s about 2 million people in the city of Dakar. It seemed like every family had their own set of fireworks and were lighting them all at the same time. There wasn’t an area in the sky that wasn’t being grazed by a magical display of greatness. Seriously. I’m not trying to be dramatic. It’s just true! This was truly a great celebration into my last year in Senegal. Thank you Dakar!

Anyways, next time you feel like going anywhere for New Year’s, I’d suggest Dakar. It’s beautiful, especially when you’re bringing in the year right: with a glimmer of hope and the next generation of African leaders.

Photo Credit:

Mamadou Toure Behan/AFP/Getty Images

http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2013/01/new-years-celebrations-around-the-world/100431/

Pamoja: Senegal

I would love to say I was bored at work and created this, but we’re totally busy and this is one of the creations that came from said busyness. I’ll write a blog updating you on what’s happened within our ministry and why we’re doing Pamoja in Senegal and not in Ngeria, but here’s what I have so far. It says, “Your power to give a compassionate witness about Jesus to unbelievers will grow in direct proportion to how precious Jesus is to you.”

Dear _____,

It’s that time again for a new blog post, but I ran out of new and creative ideas for blogs. I hope you don’t mind I’ve stolen this topic from a fellow missionary (Jenn). I hope you enjoy it!

Dear Dust Storm 2012,

I really, really love the wind you bring to Dakar. The cool spring breeze upon my freshly sunkissed face is marvelous. I can’t explain to people how much I love it when you make my hair dance in the wind.

This picture is of a missionary friend, Tricia’s, house. They got it worse than we did for sure!

What I don’t like about you, however, is that when my happiness eludes me and a large smile sweeps across my face, you- in all your glory- hit me in the face with excess dirt. I am getting rather sick of having brushed my pearly whites, only minutes later to feel like I bit the dust while running down a sand dune (Katie).

This just isn’t working out for me. I might see you around, but I really would prefer for you to clean yourself up next time around.

Sincerely,

Crusty.

Dear Ladies Outside the Mosque,

I. Love. You. Buganala torop.

I love the fact that we don’t speak each other’s language, yet we get so much joy out of seeing each other. One day, I would love to be able to sit with you and find out about your life. If only I could speak Pular, Wolof, and Serar… un jour mes amies… un jour!

Even though I can see the hardness of African life on every wrinkle on your face, I think you are all so beautiful. You are all so unique and welcoming. You were created for a purpose and you are so incredibly loved by the maker of Heaven and Earth.

Sincerely,

Yaangi Ci Sama Xol, Buganala

Dear Americans Who Donate Clothes To Africa,

Please do not send used underwear.

Sincerely,

Person Who Sifts Through “Gently” Used Underwear At The Market

Christmas Eve In Africa

we made cookies.

we opened a present from WhitLo's mom!

All us girls even slept in the same room!

And that room we slept in, might have been the kitchen.

The Depth of the Hurt

I’ve been thinking about blogging about this incident for a few weeks now, but I haven’t been able to truly process it fully (to be frank, I still haven’t). There is are more layers to this story, but for the sake of your time I’ll try to give a little summary. Please bear with me as this blog might be a little bit scattered and probably long. *Also, feel free to share this blog with people, but please don’t tag me in it on Facebook. This is a highly sensitive post and could be controversial and problematic with my students. So, again, feel free to share it, but please make sure it stays off of my Facebook for the sake of the gospel.

A few weeks ago, Rachel and I went on campus to try to meet new students. We had a pretty good day practicing our Wolof and French and meeting students who were waiting to find our their grades from the summer’s exams. As we were leaving campus, this male student came up to us and acted like he knew us. I thought that he looked familiar and was a friend’s, Oumy’s, boyfriend. So I started talking with him. Not even 45-seconds into the conversation I realized that he was not Oumy’s boyfriend.

This student starts talking to us about why we’re in Senegal. We tell him that we’re working with Campus Pour Christ (by the way, that’s the name for Campus Cru. for Christ in Senegal). And he tells us that he’s seen a bunch of Americans here over the summer and during the past two years. That was actually the most encouraging part of our conversation. He had seen previous missionaries on the campus and our summer project team from earlier this summer. I thought maybe he had been exposed to the gospel. After that “intro” to conversation it went sour. 

He began to talk to us about “beach girls” in America. For the sake of my supporters who might be reading this, know he wasn’t trying to say beach. He was talking about prostitutes in the United States but referring to them in a duragatory way. And once I figured out what he was talking about I quickly said their situation was sad. He asked why and I responded with, “Because they don’t know the extent of God’s love for them and that they don’t have to live like that.” He started to talk about prostitution in a glorifying way. My heart started to break/become enraged. One of my hopes and dreams is to help get women who are in bondage to prostitution off the streets and walking with the Lord.

 He then brought up the depth of poverty here.  Now, I have seen the poverty gap here. We went over this one. Right, God?  This student told us that there was nothing wrong with selling sex and selling one’s own body. He continued to tell Rachel and I how he has to prostitute himself in order to have food. The simple question he posed, “Have you eaten your breakfast today?” made me sick to my stomach realizing the amount of food we have in our kitchen could feed this man for a year. He has to give the only thing he has to live. He described this “necessary evil” as something that was good. He claimed, “Since God is the creator of good and bad, whose fault is it when we choose bad? God’s. And if God created evil, is evil even bad?”

This broken man was trying to justify the wrong that had been done to him by ignoring the fact that evil even exists.

I think that moment, for several reasons, was my breaking point. I came home and walked into Michelle’s, Paige’s and Katie’s apartment and just cried. I was frustrated that the guy didn’t understand that God is good and in Him is no darkness. I was frustrated that he crossed a social boundary by talking about that stuff with women, especially because he brought that up in front of sweet, innocent, pure, little Rachel. But most of all, I was angry that he showed me a part of African life that I had been choosing not to see. That conversation opened my eyes to the depth of the hurt that exists here. Sometimes I’m so very disillusioned by the mask that my students wear so well. Sure, life is hard here, but they’re making it. They don’t even think they need God, so why am I here? In this converstation I saw it especially. The lies, the mutilation, the death, and destruction… Satan’s rule and reign is so strong here. Where was my God?

I wrote later in my journal:

“Lord Jesus, how overwhelmed and defeated do I feel in this battle? I cannot see past these battles in front of me to see Your faithfulness and Your heart to redeem these people. I am stuck in combat without the slightest hint that the war has already been won… I am wanting to see the gospel go forth and for people to come to know you, but that isn’t happening. Lord, do you even care for these people?”

To which He replied,

“I have conquered sin through my Son’s death and resurrection. I have already won the war, and even though you don’t feel like it, I’m fighting your battles for you. My timing is perfect, and my ways are not your ways. My love for that man is great, much greater than you can imagine. I do love these people way more than you do. My word never returns void even though you might not see how it permeates the human heart. I am faithful to the least of these and have a redemption plan for all the nations. Do you trust me?”

I am learning that my questions really are a perfect representation of my view of God. What do I believe about His character? Me asking if He loves the Senegalese is basically saying, “Hey God, I don’t trust that Your character is always the same with everyone, and Your word might not be true about your love for every single person.” He loves them more than I can imagine. Everytime I am asking God “why?” on their behalf, He reminds me that although I do love them very much, they are not mine. My Senegalese student’s are His. Do I trust Him with them? Do I trust Him to open the eyes of Miriama, Oumy, DiaDia, Isatou, and Awa’s hearts? Or do I think I am more able?

I’m growing more and more while being here, but it isn’t pain free. There are things I’ve seen, things I’ve experienced and things I’ve heard that grieve the heart of God. I’m learning more and more that when I asked to be His hands and feet, I was given His eyes, ears, and heart.

I am so thankful for this experience to be able to mirror Jesus to 60,000 college students. I’ve been able to see the depth of hurt, pain and evil here. But what I know from experience is way more powerful than any darkness. God is Lord over all. He is author of creation. He is King of kings. He is bigger than our trials.

I am here to testify that my God is good and does good. The God of the universe is orchestrating and weaving events in our daily life for our good. I am here to “have a big, high, right view of God and [have] my life testify to it and my lips proclaim it.”- Ryan Kucera. I am here to show a sick, fallen world the Healer and Redeemer. I am here to tell people that the only thing we have to give to God is our lives and that is where we find true life. I count it as joy to be able to serve Christ in this way, knowing that though there might be heartache, God is worth every, single ounce of it.

Milestone :)

Well, I thought I’d give you a little update. As of today, I’m at 41% of my support raised. So exciting! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU to those who have financially invested, prayerfully invested, and invested in this ministry in numerous other ways. I know I’ve said thank you, but words cannot express the gratitude I have. I can’t wait to share with you how your sacrifice and investment will change peoples lives and make such a major impact on the Kingdom of God. Continue to be praying that I’m completely done with my support by August 1st.

God is so great and worthy of our praise. I can’t imagine what I’d do without the hope I have in Christ. Thank you for partnering with this ministry to share Christ with a nation that doesn’t have any clue about God’s love for them! The Lord is God and is good. Praising Him tonight for His provision, faithfulness, and His desire to draw the Senegalese closer to Him!

Perpetuum Jazzle Goes Wild!

This is a video I stumbled upon about a month ago. I thought I posted it on here, but apparently I did not. This group covers really popular pop songs (I know, pop stands for popular) but they don’t use ANY instruments. Just in case you watch the first one minute and 45 seconds and get bored, they are doing rain. The song will start shortly. Enjoy!

Ps- my fave is definitely the guy who does the drums/beat/whatever it’s called. Who’s your fave?

Memphis: Week One

Well, this is now my third week of support raising for my internship in Africa, and I am at 30% of my monthly goal and one time goal. I have two set goals: a certain amount of monthly support needed and a certain amount of one time gifts needed. Monthly partners commit to giving a set amount monthly. So, I’m at 30% for both of these. That’s exciting. That’s an average of 10% a week. If I keep this pace up, I’ll be done in 7 weeks. I have a goal of being done with support by July 1st. That’s pretty bold. I’m going to strive for that goal. Pray with me that I’m done with support by July 1st!

I’ve been in Memphis for the past week working on support. I have REALLY enjoyed being in Memphis. I’ve gotten to have appointments with people I normally don’t get to see since I’m 6 hours away. I am so glad that I’ve been able to see family, friends, and especially my sisters! Speaking of sisters, Theresa graduated from Ole Miss last weekend with her Master’s degree in linguistics. She’s so smart. Here’s some pictures my dad took.

T is the first in our family to get a master's degree!

The sisters with the graduate!

I’m headed to Nashville at the end of next week for more appointments (hopefully). I haven’t exactly set those up yet, but I’m going to make some calls tomorrow. Prayers are much appreciated.

Well onto things other than work…  I have had one of those days (I’m thinking it’s because I’m wearing a long flowy dress) that feels like all I want to do is run outside in a field, dance around, sing, and just enjoy being. You ever have those days? Those moments are so freeing. There isn’t a care in the world. You just let go of it all and just enjoy life! I love those moments. I need to hold on to those longer. Conundrum…

Anyways! Tonight we’re having a movie night at my sisters house and we’re watching Despicable Me. If you haven’t seen this movie, please do. It’s SO funny! I love love love it. In fact, here’s a great clip for you to watch. Enjoy this glimpse of sunshine and enjoy your weekend!