Nigerian Cuisine!

On Wednesday night, we had two friends from Nigeria come over. Aaron met them at school. Moses and Abel are here studying as well. They went to an African market and bought us some Nigerian food to eat. They came to our apartment and cooked it for us! It was definitely a cultural experience! We had:

-goat

-chicken

-dried stock fish

Each of the meats were boiled, then fried.

Each of them were mixed in a stew of tomatoes, peppers, onions, tomato paste, vegetable oil and Nigerian spices. The stock fish were mixed with the same stew, but with spinach and collards mixed in.

Below are a few pictures of it cooking. We forgot to get the camera back out when it was finished!

The Next Steps ....

We have been thinking about "the next steps" ever since we decided to embark on this journey with the Lord. It has constantly been in the front of our minds.

The Lord has called us to missions.

What are the next steps to take?

We must sell our house.

What are the next steps to take?

We are going to move to Louisville.

What are the next steps to take?

And on, and on, and on ....

We are seemingly at another "what are the next steps?" kind of moment. Aaron will finish his M.A. in Missiology next May. That is only one year away - and almost overwhelming to think about! My how time flies!!

We began with our hearts and minds set on Hispanic ministry somewhere overseas. We have yet to feel a call anywhere else. We very much feel that God has asked us (told us) to go somewhere in South America or Central America to serve His purpose with our lives. Our original plan was to do this by joining up with the International Mission Board and being commissioned by them. Never once did we consider going to one of these places as self-supported missionaries - until now. God has so revealed Himself to us, and we fully believe that whatever path He has for us, He will provide a way for us to take it. We have learned of great needs for teaching and discipling in these areas (as well as others). Our hearts have turned towards this type of missionary service. We have learned that being a missionary doesn't necessarily mean going and taking the Gospel to everyone, everywhere. While some missionaries are called to do just such, some are called to teach and disciple those people that the other missionaries have just won to Christ. This is where we feel the Lord leading us. Aaron has been privileged to attend Southern Seminary, and to have Dr. Sills for several classes. His website Reaching and Teaching, and his latest book of the same title have allowed us to see the great need for theologically sound doctrine to be taught to these new believers for years before the nationals are really able to take over and disciple and teach on their own. This is the area that we feel the Lord leading us to serve in, and thus, we feel that going with another agency is the best thing for us. While we are not totally shutting out the possibility of going with the IMB, the chances are getting smaller and smaller. Funding is down at the IMB, and they are not sending as many missionaries as once before.

Another step we would take is coming back to Southern after 2 years on the field for Aaron to work on his D.Miss. This would allow us to go back and he could teach at one of the seminaries to earn income, and we could do ministry without having to seek funds from supporters. It all sounds crazy to some - and sometimes even to us! - but we know that God will provide and take care of all the needs that we have in order that we serve Him in the capacity that He has called us to.

As always, we seek your prayers as we progress in our journey! We are so grateful for friends and family who lift us up. We couldn't do this without you!

And Another One Bites the Dust ...

Semester that is! Aaron finished his last exam at 9:45 last night! It is such a great feeling for him (and me) to know that another semester is done! This one was especially hard since he was taking 12 hours (and just in case you don't know, 12 seminary hours are a little more challenging than 12 college hours) and working full time. We are definitely ready for a break!

Yesterday was also our 10 year anniversary!!! I still can't believe we have been married for 10 years! We had a crazy kind of day, but it was still good! Aaron surprised me with a beautiful ring last night.

It is a sapphire and diamonds because the 10^th year anniversary color is silver or blue. I truly have been blessed to be married to my best friend, the love of my life, and a godly man for 10 years. I am looking forward to the next 10! Since he had exams and had to work yesterday, we are celebrating tonight. Our friends, James and Brittney, are having Briggs over for a camp out, and Aaron and I are going out to eat. I hope we go to Havana Rumba - it has become my favorite! - but as long as we go out somewhere with each other, I don't care!

Stay at Home Mom - What?

"I love being a stay at home mom" is one of those phrases I never thought I'd hear myself say! As a teenager, I was dead set on being a career woman. I thought that IF I had children, my husband could stay with them. Then as a young married adult, I didn't even know if I wanted children. And now, I can't imagine my life any other way! The past year and a half while living in Louisville I have been staying at home full time. I never thought I would even get to do something like that - let alone enjoy it! I have been so blessed by a hard working, dedicated husband who has allowed me this season of life to stay at home with Briggs. God evidently placed a different view in my life because I would have never imagined myself staying home. I ENJOY being here, cooking, cleaning, taking care of my family - and isn't that how it's supposed to be? I am so privileged to have such a great family to care for, and I look forward to continuing to do so for many, many years!

Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift! - 2 Corinthians 9:15

FUN, FUN, FUN

About a year ago, I began to look online for homemade recipes for things like wipes, laundry detergent, etc. I found lots of recipes, and honestly became overwhelmed at all the different choices & recipes! I did make a batch of wipes, but since we really don't use wipes anymore, I only made them once. Yesterday my dad sent me an email saying that a lady he worked with had made homemade laundry detergent and paid less than $10 for 6 months worth!! I knew that I was heading out to the grocery store today - and that laundry detergent just happened to be on my list - so I decided to make some to see how it works, how much it costs, how long it will last.

I also made homemade body wash and another batch of baby wipes. What fun!!

Homemade Laundry Detergent:

2 cups finely grated Fels Naptha soap (or I think you can use Ivory)

1 cup washing soda

1 cup Borax (this was on sale at Kroger, plus I printed a coupon for $.35 that was doubled)

Mix it all together in an air tight container. Use two tablespoons per load.

I am washing my 2nd load of clothes already!

This recipe came from Tipnut. There are other recipes on there as well. I searched homemade laundry detergents. There's probably about 10 different recipes on there - some are powdered (what I used) and some are liquid.

There is also a recipe for dishwasher detergent. The great thing is that it uses the Borax and washing soda bought for the laundry detergent! The bad thing is that I won't get to try it for awhile because I just bought a new bottle of detergent on Wednesday! This recipe is also found on Tipnut.

The baby wipes came from eHow. It is really easy to make and they turn out great! I actually had the paper towels that have two sizes on them. I tore the paper towels at the smallest perforation and then stacked them all together and cut them in half. We only use wipes for cleaning off hands so I'm not really picky about how big they are. I then folded them accordion style, overlapping them so they will pull out like regular wipes. We've used one already, and they work just as well as the store bought ones!

The body wash calls for 1 cup of Suave or other cheap non-scented shampoo - although I guess you could use scented if you wanted. You add 1/2 cup of water and 3 tablespoons of table or Epson salt and shake it up. I just happened to have a half bottle of Suave shampoo, and we were needing body wash, so I decided to try this recipe too! I can't remember the website I found it on, but there are tons out there. You can add essential oils and things in for scent. I will try this in the morning.

So this has been my fun for the day! I LOVE doing stuff like this - and with Aaron at work, and the pouring rain outside, it made for a perfect project day! I even had plenty of time to clean house after these projects too!