This is why....... I do it.

A father of one of the patients recently wrote this letter upon his disembarkation:

Dear MERCY SHIP

Thanks for the joy you've brought back to my life and the lives of many others. God bless the works of your hands everywhere you go and may you be of blessing in the lives of others in the world. I will continue to pray for the Mercy Ship, her sponsors, and all those who makes her what she is. To the Captain I say navigate well. To the engine men let her never break down. To the counselors take away our trauma with kind words. To the doctors and nurses I say make us smile, hold, walk, see, and talk again in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. May the blessing of the almighty God be with you all.

Thanks
Bami Seydou on behalf of my son Yemi Seydou


This is what makes it worth it! This is why we do what we do. This is why I am here.

God is good all the time.

New Photos!

There are new photos on my Flickr page..... Click on the ~NEW links to the right under Photos to view them. Enjoy!

Sorry-O

Oh my gosh I just realized I have not posted a blog since the 2nd of September. That is almost 2 weeks ago. It has been so long since I logged on to my account that I forgot the password. I have had somewhat of a writers block for the past few weeks, but you will be glad to read that I am still alive and I am back. I have new stories and lots of new photos.

This week the dental team is taking it easy. Our dentist is in bed with a bad back and we are only working a few half days this week. It is really nice but I would not want to do it all the time. Today I arrived back to the ship at 1:00 in the afternoon. It is a beautiful day out there today, so a friend and fellow co worker and I decided to hit deck 8 to get some sun. I just got done soaking up the rays and reading for the past few hours. It was glorious.

Now I am off to do a little tae-bo work out session. I have been noticing a bit of extra weight hanging out in my mid section and I can not have that. So I ordered a tae-bo dvd and it arrived today....... how exciting. I have high hopes for Billy Banks. Billy is going to do his best at getting me back in to shape. Jen and I have been doing this work out/eating plan for the past few weeks. Basically low carbs and no junk food. We are calling it 6 weeks to dead SEXY! We are currently ending week 4. We are not dead sexy yet....:(

Well that is all I time for now. Within the next couple of days I will post NEW stories and photos. Please don't give up on reading my blog....I promise I will do better

Psalm 146

Psalm 146:3-7

Do not put your trust in princes, in mortal men, who cannot save. When their spirit departs, they return to the ground; on that very day their plans come to nothing. Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God, the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them--the LORD, who remains faithful forever. He upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry. The LORD sets prisoners free.

I read this verse the other day and I keep coming back to it 3 days later. I think so often I try to wrap my mind around God and all that He is. I try to convince myself that I know everything there is to know about GOD the creator of the universe. I often try to make myself out to be smarter, wiser and more important than He. It is very easy to do that in the mission field, especially in a third world country where every one has a need of some kind that you are able to meet or help them meet most of the time.

Thankfully, God so graciously reminds me of who I am and who He is. It never fails I get to thinking that I am more important than I am and God knocks me back down to where I belong, a humbled and gracious servant of the the same God that Jacob served. How exciting to think that I will never fully understand God and His POWER. He will always be a mystery to me, and the more and more I learn of him the more and more I fall on my knees and worship him. Because I serve a God who upholds the oppressed, feeds the hungry, gives life to the lifeless, set prisoners free, is faithful forever, and is the maker of heaven and earth, the sea and everything in them.

Just a little something to think about: where does your help and hope comes from? Maybe it is time for God to knock you back down to where you belong. A humbled servant and not the creator of the heavens and earth.

Blessed am I for my help and hope is found in the Lord and NOT mortal men!!