Patient Reflections

Lamentations 3:25

"The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, 

To the soul who seeks Him. "

Sometimes life can be exhausting. 

And in those sometimes, God is usually the only one

that seems to be tenderly drawing me in. 

Tonight I reflected. 

Sometimes I feel like time is not my friend. 

I've boarded a lot of planes in my life and looking out that window

Time is what is always looking back at me. 

As I look out those familiar plane windows my thoughts always

 wonder back to the same thing. That time has come and gone and it 

just keeps moving and there is no way of stopping it. 

Now only last for one second. 

But those many seconds make up our time and 

our time can teach us about tomorrow. 

And even when time is full of pain and loss, 

things have to keep moving, because 

tomorrow is just another day and to quote Hootie and the Blowfish

I don't believe in time. 

although God has taught me some great things this past year. 

I have had some of the hardest times of my life. 

And I am just tired. 

I've loved and I've lost and everything just keeps moving 

and moving…

and tonight as I reflect, I finally realized why I feel so exhausted. 

And I stopped being so hard on myself for all my mistakes and 

messy emotions. 

When you sincerely ask JESUS to break your heart for what breaks HIS. 

He doesn't hold back. 

and sometimes it just hurts. 

and it's okay. 

Because that's how we learn. 

Through our pain we can learn a lot about ourselves. 

Nothing prepares you for how hard it will be to love on these little children by day and walk away from them knowing that they will go back to sleep on the streets at night. 

No one but God is there when you lie awake 

in your bed at night in Uganda listening to the thunder and storm and wondering where those children are sleeping, and if they are cold or wet or crying. 

Nothing prepares you how to handle a situation when a sweet little boy falls asleep in your lap and doesn't wake up and has to be rushed to the clinic by a boda boda in Kampala traffic and you're the only one to take him. 

and nothing prepares you for how hard it is to 

try to care for him after that and better his situation only to have him end back up on the streets. 

nothing prepares you for how awful the feeling 

is the next time you try to go back and find 

him only to get more bad news..

 It hurts and there's no way around it.

No one tells you how hard it is to stay in contact with those you desperately want to help when you have to leave. 

Nothing prepares you for how deeply you will fall in love 

with a little girl who you will teach to walk

and literally ache and cry when she gets sick 

and feed her and dress her and wipe away her tears. 

I never knew how much I would cry, when comes 

time to board a plane and go back home and break that bond. 

Nothing prepares you for all the orphans in the 

orphanages and on the streets that you will see day in and day out. 

And no one warns you how bad it will hurt to see it 

and how much your heart will ache to care for them. 

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No one tells you that it might be the last time that you 

get to hold one of these little ones, because tomorrow

they may go home to be with Jesus. 

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Sometimes you're not even mourning yourself, 

you're just mourning with others. 

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Nothing prepares you for how much it will hurt to break 

up with your boyfriend of 3 years because 

your lives are going in different directions. 

Nothing prepares you for how homesick you start to become, 

for the small things you use to take for granted. 

somewhere along the way, I became numb and usually wasn't 

until coming home that all my bottled up emotions 

would come pouring out. 

If there is one thing I've learned 

it's that time 

does not wait for you to catch up. 

It just keeps moving. 

So I decided not to believe in time. 

I'd rather believe in Jesus. 

Because He does wait for me to catch up. 

He waits even when no one else will. 

He doesn't push me to keep going 

when I am tired. 

Because sometimes I don't even know how worn out 

I actually am until he says 

"wait and rest in me" 

My humanness inside of me says hurry, you got to keep moving, 

because time will leave without you. 

But Jesus says wait on me. 

Seek me and allow me to guide you. 

Don't run ahead without me and wear yourself out. 

The other day I was thinking back to 

all the different places I have been this last year or so. 

I have stayed in so many hotel rooms, guest houses, friends houses, 

orphanages, and even renting a room at a home with 8 girls in california. 

Sleeping in new places, doesn't phase me. 

honestly I wish I had pictures of all the different 

beds I have slept in, in my life. 

They would add up fast. 

A bed and a house are important things in someones life. 

They provide a comfortable and safe place 

for resting. Someones home is their fortress in a way. 

One of the things that has worn me out more than anything. 

Is lack of stability in where I'm staying. 

I'm moving from one place to the next. 

But none of these places I can really call my own. 

My fortress. 

And it's okay. 

Because right now, Jesus, is teaching me that He is my fortress. 

No matter where I am, He is my home. 

And I am to rest in Him. 

It's not easy. 

It can be very uncomfortable at times. 

But it's necessary. 

Because home is where the heart is. 

And my heart should always be rested in Jesus. 

Even though, this past year has been one of the hardest

in my life. 

And there are always going to be things I wish I 

could have done differently. I wouldn't trade all 

that I have learned about myself, about this life 

and about my Lord and savior

I don't regret loving even though there is loss.

I don't regret trying even when I fail. 

I don't regret continuing on even when it hurts. 

"Lord, today you know what I need to do, 

But you can do more in my waiting than in my doing I could do. 

So I won't run anymore. 

I'm waiting on you. "

- Bethany Dillion

Just a little update...

 Hello!

I just wanted to update and share with everyone what God has been doing in my life lately.


When I came back from Uganda in December, after lots of prayer, I made the decision to attend Eternity Bible College in Simi Valley California.

I am studying for my Global Ministry Certificate

In the fall I started an online class through Eternity, which I continued online while I was in Uganda and really enjoyed the class. My younger brother Landry had started his first semester at Eternity last fall and was also encouraging me to
come to Simi Valley.



I started my first semester here in January and am currently living in a beautiful little house with three other girls.

God provided the perfect place for me to live and I have been extremely blessed with a wonderful landlord who is so sweet (yes even sweet enough to plant us an herb garden in the back yard and flowers to attract the butterflies).

not to mention we also have a lemon and orange tree!!

I have been even more blessed by my 3 roommates who I have connected with so easily and have become great friends with over the course of a few months.









It was so clear after moving out here that this is exactly where I am suppose to be in this season. I love my classes and professors and have met so many awesome people while being out here, I couldn't be more grateful for all of the new friends I have made at EBC.


If any of you are looking into Bible College I would defiantly recommend checking out EBC
http://eternitybiblecollege.com/

Aside from school I have also been involved in some volunteer work down in South LA.
Currently on Thursday nights I am helping out with a kids class at Cornerstone South LA.
http://www.cornerstonesouthla.com/#
This is also the church that I attend most Sundays.

Down the street from this church is a little hispanic church that me and one of my roommates attended one Sunday, needless to say, despite the language barrier, the members of this church have become dear friends of ours and never fail to invite us over to eat with them Sunday's after church.
(perhaps this should be a blog post in itself)


We have had a couple worship & dinners at our house along with some hilarious game nights. I can't express how thankful I am for the friends I have made here at EBC.



I will be home soon to visit for spring break!


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and then at the end of this Semester I will be heading back to Uganda for the summer.
Although I know God always has other plans, here are the...

Goals for this summer's trip:

• Learning Luganda I will be scoping out some of the language classes available in Kampala, which hopefully I can start my next trip, because I will not be staying long enough this time to attend any official classes. I have already began my own personal language study here at home. And I have some friends in Uganda who will be helping me along in my progression and immersion.
• History and Culture Immersion 
  I will be visiting some of the history museums and culture centers around to educate myself more on the culture and history of Uganda. I believe it is important for me to know the people and culture I am ministering to better and there is still so much to learn! On my latter trips I never took the time to learn more about this beautiful country and it's culture by visiting some of these places that provide so much insight into the history of Uganda.

• Village MinistryI have a few villages that I will be visiting this trip. One of  them is Mosolita village (I know I spelled this wrong), this is the village that I have visited a few times with The Rock Uganda Missions team. The other two villages are right outside of Jinja, one being the home village of Daniel (story here). I will be visiting for fellowship and also plan on bringing food to prepare. I need to master the Ugandan cooking style :P
• Visiting FriendsThere are so many people who I am excited to see when I come back. Including Josephine and Titus (who will then be newly weds!) and all the beautiful girls at The Fortress, Emma who just launched her ministry The Gem Foundation I am stoked to see her new home all put together and the amazing things that God is doing in her life, Joyce! and her crazy brothers ( Simon and Ben) you can read more about her ministry here! Also, my friend Macey, here's a link to her blog, I am so excited for her and the plans that God has laid out for her life. Also my friend Danielle (wish I could find the link to her blog!),  And of course, Daniel and all of my friends at VCC.
  
  
  
  My main focus for this trip will be culture and language immersion and getting to know the people that I will be ministering to better.
  
  "We forget the example set by Christ who "being in very nature God" did not cling to that identity but instead became not only a Jew, but a servant among Jews (Phil. 2:6-7). We must love the people to whom we minister so much that we are willing to enter their culture as children, to learn how to speak as they speak, play as they play, eat what they eat, sleep where they sleep, study what they study, and thus earn their respect and admiration" (Lingenfelter 1986:25) 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ..As most of you know..
  
  

  Love Remedy Inc.

  
  is now official!!
  
  
  One of my roommates just so happens to have a degree in web-design!
  We will be having fun putting my website together.
  
  
  We are excited to launch the website soon!
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Prayer For A Sign: Great Is His Faithfulness

Hi everyone, I arrived in Uganda on Tuesday. 

When I walked out of the airport I had the sweetest feeling I was home. 

Last night I sent a personal email to some of my family

about a wonderful experience I had at church this Sunday. 

I decided I would share the story with all of you.

All Praise Be To God

Here is a copy of my original Email,

With a few added details:

I went to church today, this was the first time being back to VCC. Before I left the house I was praying that if VCC is where I am suppose to be going that God would give me a sign so that I would know for sure and that if it is not suppose to be my church anymore than that I would know. 

I arrived at church and I had such a wonderful welcome by all of my friends there. The first face I saw was Sam, he is one of the boys from Teen Challenge, he's only about 17, and a former street boy. He is soft spoken and very sweet. His face when he saw me was priceless he was so surprised and came to give me a hug.

 I told him to take me to see Dan. Let me give you some background on Dan. 

 I'm not sure how much I told you about Daniel but he is the boy that I sponsor from Teen challenge. When I first met him I didn't know he was a former street child (No wonder I naturally had a heart for him). At church he was always so quiet and he would help out with everything, there was something about his spirit that attracted me. He has such an innocence about him and such a servants heart. I prayed about him for a few days and then one day I introduced myself and found out that he spoke very little english. I also learned that he was a student at Teen Challenge. I asked him if I could pray over him and he let me. When I finished he thanked me about a million times and I knew I was suppose to help this boy in some way. I told him that if it was okay I wanted to be his big sister (He is only 16 yrs old). I can't describe how happy he was when I said this. Later I learned that his father died when he was a toddler and that his step father would abuse him (step children in uganda are not accepted by step parents) and then his mom died also. He was stuck with his step father who threw him out on the streets. 

After praying for him I gave him a small amount of money because I felt like I was suppose to. I learned later that he bought a cell phone with the money I gave him. There is something very significant about this cell phone. When Daniel was on the streets he survived by pickpocketing cell phones to get money to eat. The money I gave him to get a phone was the first time he had ever been able to respectfully buy himself a phone instead of stealing them for money. Before I left I was able to spend more time with Daniel but his english was very poor. One day i was able to meet the directors of Teen Challenge they were so excited to meet with me, they shared with me that Dan had been very depressed and alone for a long time. He was shy and didn't make friends very well and he was sad because he felt like he had no one. They told me he is the only student at Teen Challenge who does not have a sponsor and that they have not been able to put him into school because of it (why he didn't speak english). I had enough money to pay for his school fee's before I left. Dan even came with me to the airport to see me off, I insisted he be there with me.

 Daniel also shared with me himself that he had been praying for a long time that God would give me family again because he has always felt so alone. He told me, " I never doubted God though, I knew he would be faithful and bring me someone."

Now.. back to this morning at church. Sam took me straight to Daniel and he was sooo happy to see me, he seated me in the front row right beside him and immediately left and came back with a cold water bottle for me (I know Dan's allowance is hardly anything and this small gesture was so special to me.) So worship started (oh how I missed this worship) during worship I started praying again, "God, I'm waiting on your sign, I know you will be faithful, I just want to know for sure that this is my church." Then the sermon came and still I waited for my sign. I started to realize I was sitting right in the middle of a group of boys from teen challenge and they all had there T'shirts on. Suddenly, I heard the pastor announce that it was Teen Challenge Sunday and that they will be announcing and celebrating the graduates today. I turned to Dan and asked "Are you graduating today?" and he shook his head Yes. He thought I had come specially for his graduation!! He was absolutely thrilled I was there. He said that people had told him I wouldn't come back and that he would always tell them she will come back I have faith in her. I HAD NO IDEA IT WAS TEEN CHALLENGE GRADUATION DAY, I didn't even know it was Teen Challenge Sunday. But God did and he made sure I was there for this boy. 

They began announcing the boys one by one and the boys would go up and give their testimony and pray for each individual boy and receive their grad certificate. Dan turned to me and said "when they call my name will you go up on stage with me?" I told him of course. But honestly I was kind of nervous, it is a HUGE church bigger than The Rock. I went up with him and he gave his testimony and at the end he told everyone that even though he doesn't have any family he has me and that I am helping him go to school. I never realized the impact I had on this boys life. When I was there on my last trip he went to the slums with me a few times to help me feed the street boys (he was a street boy himself and he had SUCH a beautiful heart for these street children and after all he knows what they are going through) When he would come with me he was so protective over me, he knows all the little tricks people can play to pickpocket or take advantage. He watches out for me 

like I really am the only family he has. Remember he is only 16 yrs old and yet he is so protective. 

 I couldn't believe I showed up on his graduation! God came through with his sign, it truly felt like a miracle to me. More exciting news is that Dan's english has improved soooo much from the schooling I have paid for. He had never been in school so he had to start from kid garden and he is now to 4th grade level, I can communicate with him now much better. After church Dan said to me, "I want you to meet my teacher!". His teacher suggested that I get him a personal tutor instead because in a class setting he will fall behind. SO then God provided another miracle. There is a young man at my church his name is Francis I met him last trip he is actually a christian author, he has written several books. He is very smart and soft spoken, he's a really sweet guy. He was who Dan's teacher suggested I higher as a tutor, I was so happy to hear I could hire Francis because I know him already and he is someone I can trust. I could see God's hand over Dan's life today. 

When we sat back down with his certificate he said to me, "I am a good boy now." looking down at his certificate like it was proof of that. I told him he always was a good boy. And he kept saying I knew you would come I knew it. It's just so weird because I didn't know I would come, I didn't even know what I was coming for. But God did. 

Lynne

          

Daniel giving his testimony

A photo I received of Dan when I was in the states getting ready to go to school

His certificate of completion from Teen Challenge.

For those of you who haven't heard of the organization it is a christian rehab center for boys who

have struggled with substance abuse. When Dan was living on the streets (he was only a little boy) he became addicted to alcohol. 

I plan on continuing to provide Dan with school fee's until he is 

ready to take his exams and graduate.

It was pricey to hire him his own personal tutor but I knew it was what God wanted

me to do and Dan was so proud. I sat down with him, his teacher, and his new tutor.

Most kids hate anything that resembles a parent teacher conference but let 

me tell you Dan could not be more excited for me to meet with his teachers. He was so 

proud to have me there with him and I was even more proud of him for how 

far he has come. By the way I got an excellent report from his teacher, his teacher told me

Dan is a very responsible young man and that he is even paying him some small money

every other day to pick up his children from school because he knows he can

trust Daniel with his children. (Pretty cool, right?)

Since Dan is now graduated from Teen Challenge he can no longer stay at the 

rehab center. Because a lot of these boys who graduated are former street children,

they often have no place else to call home. So there is another home that they have started

for the graduates to stay at until they can get on their feet.

 I would love to eventually

be able to help provide Daniel his own place, he told me yesterday.

"I know God will provide me a place, he is always faithful to me." 

Dan is always right when he talks about God's faithfulness. 

Cinnamon Apple Jelly Fundraiser

My ticket is booked. 

I leave for Uganda October 29th. 

I'll come back home December 6th just in time for Christmas. 

I'm excited to share with everyone my plans for this next trip. 

If anyone were to ask me where my heart is in Uganda, I'd tell them the same thing. 

With the street children 

Kampala, the city I work in, it is hard to move around 

anywhere, espcially in highly populated areas and 

not see a child on the side of the road 

begging. 

My heart goes out to these children, some I have come 

to know during my time in the slum

at the feeding program. You learn their names. 

You remember their faces. You hear their stories. 

Some of these children are as young

as 5 years old. Others only toddlers. 

The younger children being taken care of 

by older siblings that wouldn't 

even be in junior high yet if they had the opportunity

of ever going to school. 

Some of these street children have been orphaned. 

Others have been kicked out of their homes or ran away from abusive situations.

Some have simply gotten lost and never found their way home. 

It's a sad reality for these kids.


They live, sleep, and eat in the streets.
This video link gives a more accurate picture of what life on the streets is like.
I think this ministry did a wonderful job with the video
and it is actually filmed on the streets
of Kampala, Uganda. Watch Video Here


On past trips with different teams we have done some
feeding ministries in the streets.
This is one of my most favorite things.
We pile together a bunch of food, whether it be
peanut butter and jelly sandwiches
or a bunch of bananas
or just our left overs from lunch
and we find children who are looking to eat.
Depending where we go we are often
overwhelmed with the number of
children who are hungry and looking for food.

During my next trip I hope to do much more of this.
This is where YOU come in.


Until the end of October I will be having a fundraiser
selling my Homemade Apple Cinnamon Jelly.
All of the funds raised will go towards
my feeding ministry in the streets.

I didn't realize how much work it is to make Apple Jelly!
But I had fun making it, took me a bit to get it just right.
I used fresh organic apples
picked straight from the tree
Some of them are picked
from my trees, but we only
have green apples so I
did a combination of red and green.


My mom taste tested the first batch
and she approved :)

Price: $5.00 Each
(8 ounce Jar)

(They are made with love! And I had to pray over every jar to make sure the Jell set lol)
If you prefer a bigger Jar size let me know and I will see what I can do :)
P.S. Jelly is Vegan friendly.

How to Order:
You can Facebook me or email me.
My email is: Stellarpollux0k0@live.com

Tell me how many you want and I will give you your price.


If you live in Jay County and attend The Rock Church
We can arrange pick up and payment there.
Or you can pre-pay through pay-pal

We could also arrange pick up and payment at Inman Insurance
Mon-Friday 9-5
Or Saturday morning 9-11

We will discuss in a personal message what works
best for you.

If you would like me to ship your Jelly to you
please message me and include your address.

Please wait for me to message you back with your
shipping costs before you make your payment
on pay-pal!Because the flat shipping rate was
so high I can give people a better price
for shipping if I just ship a normal
package priority mail.

When you message me please include:

* How many jars you want

and

 * Your address you want it shipped to

I will message you back with your total
price including shipping.
Once you have your total you can pay through
pay-pal.
My Pay button is at the top of
my blog.

The more Jars I can sell the more children
I can feed during my street outreach.
Thank you so much for your support
and taking the time to
read my blog.
Everyone's support and encouragement means so much to me!