Category Archives: Inspirational Thoughts

Scarlet O’hara

05 Monday Aug 2013

Posted by in Inspirational Thoughts, Life in Africa, Lorato House Rescue Centre, Love Botswana Outreach Mission

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One thing I know: If someone insults you its one thing. Let them insult your kids, it’s another thing entirely! Let any threat to Lioness’ cubs come anywhere near and instincts kick in with a roar!  I feel this way about the lives entrusted to our watchful care here at Love Botswana. I am privileged to be a Mama to anyone who will let me! If danger comes near and my cubs are threatened, my instincts kick in to protect. That’s the first and strongest instinct of any mother. Its something too strong to wrap words around. It usually defies logic and happens before critical thinking skills and planning and protocol have a chance to play a role.

My sister from my African Mother calls me “Scarlet Ohara” for my streak of, well whatever you call it. A name could be temper, spirited, passionate, and feisty. Regardless, it gets me in trouble more times than I would like to admit.

Its like the pushing part of giving birth. In order to make some things happen, that’s just what it takes. Tenacity. Grit. And yes, even a strong will to get that thing done! Just get out of my way cuz I am pushing! And give me some ice chips and encouragement when I need it because its going to happen!

One thing I know: If my motives are questioned and I am misunderstood in my efforts to be that mama, that is the worse thing I can experience. My knees go weak and the tears will not stop.

Real life is full of such experiences. All we can do is swallow our pride, “eat crow” and carry on the best we can.  If I don’t brush off those knees when they fall down, I won’t ever get up and keep doing what is before me to do. I am not a perfect person or mama, but I am going to keep on going, loving, trying, protecting, and watching out for my cubs.

Neither Jerry’s fingerprints nor mine are on this ministry, only the fingerprints of God. So enemies of good cannot stop us. Don’t let my white skin fool you. My instincts to protect the dignity of my African family are strong. Everything I stand for is FOR the land of my heart that I have been privileged to live and serve in for 25 years. I have received more than I have ever given in this rich land that values respect, honor, and relationships.


On A Tightrope?

09 Tuesday Jul 2013

Posted by in Inspirational Thoughts

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(AP Photos/Discovery Channel, Tiffany Brown)

A world record was set last month on June 24 when Nik Wallenda, a tightrope artist, made his way across the Grand Canyon in just 22 minutes. My Pastor, Joel Osteen, was there to pray with him before hand. This man has a wife and kids and yet, his dream was to be the first in history to conquer this great feat. Along the way, he knelt down twice in order to make the rope stop shaking. With every breath, he was praying and thanking God for helping him. He also thanked the many people who supported him along the way. When it was all said and done though, he was the one who walked it and him alone.

We all walk a tight rope of some kind in our lives. Sometimes we get out of balance and feel like we are falling down a great canyon! But it is possible to do it.

How do you balance your personal life with your ministry? That was the question posed to me on Saturday when I met at the coffee shop with a small group of young women, hungry for answers. I took a deep breath, wishing I could say that I have, in fact, mastered that question. It was a mixed group of young, single and married. So what do you do when your whole life is based around ministry, or any job for that matter? Even for my husband and I, our whole adult life has been about serving people. It has only been in the last couple of years that I have been able to say I even know how to experience what that looks like!

Here’s what we came up with:

  1. Have a sabbath. For those in full time Ministry, that day is certainly not on Church day! So, that doesn’t count.  If possible, set aside a day that is for Y-O-U. No work. No ministry. If you are on call,, it doesn’t count.
  2. Set boundaries around yourself for your family time, if you have one. If you are single, do the same. Don’t let people take advantage of you, assuming you are more available to do things because you are single! It’s really surprising to see how people really can get along without you if you are not available. I know I always thought I had to be the one to “be there” when people were in crisis. But, it has been so liberating to know that I don’t have to be! They will find someone else or figure it out themselves, or do the last thing we all seem to forget: that God is right there the whole time, ready to take our hand and walk us through it HIMSELF.
  3. Realize that sometimes, a total separation can’t be made. Jerry and I have been in ministry our whole 26 year marriage. Our lives are intertwined with it. But if its conversation around “work” or talk that creates homework, its not personal time. If this comes up, don’t sweat it, just jot it down on a pad or on your phone notes for later pick up. Then get back to carving out your personal time with those close to you.
  4. Guard your quiet time with God. Everything you do in your life flows out of that relationship. It makes you better. It empowers you. It satisfies your soul! He is waiting for you, always there, and would love to walk with us all individually in this thing called life!
  5. Don’t feel guilty for saying no. Really.
  6. Do a weekend or 3 day getaway every few months. A personal retreat. To take stock. To look at where you are on your journey. To ask yourself, are there changes that need to be made? It is a life-giving time to clear your head and get back in touch with you!
  7. The last, but not least, is to download Creating Your Personal Life Plan by Micheal Hyatt. This exercise is a great way to help you get from here, to where you want to go. It’s easy! Just sign up for his enriching updates and you get it for free! http://michaelhyatt.com/life-plan

For all of us who find ourselves in different places along our way, we can know that with some adjustments, we can go through our day, satisfied that we did what was in our heart to do and feel good about it!

PHOTO: Nik Wallenda gives a thumbs-up as he nears the end of his successful untethered high wire crossing of the Grand Canyon. (Reuters: Mike Blake)
RELATED STORY: US man walks cable stretched across Niagara Falls
MAP: United States

How To Get That Tune Out Of Your Head!

18 Wednesday Jul 2012

Posted by in Growing Pains, Inspirational Thoughts

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Click pic to hear song!

The craziest things come across Facebook. Today my brother, Lee, posted the Theme song of “Mr. Ed”, the talking horse. Now, hours later, I cannot get it out of my head! Perched in front of our new, black and white TV, in the mid 1960’s, my brother and I watched this weekly show about a wise, talking horse. Mr. Ed had attitude, for sure, but he always seemed to trump his owner with his words of wisdom for the situations presented in the story line.

I was driving down the long road in the Magadigadi pans in Botswana, where I live, when I saw a horse that triggered my fond memories of sitting with my brother as a kid, watching that show. Oh! I got the “warm fuzzies!” I found myself singing it and my 4 children, ranging from ages 8 to 22, looked at my like I was crazy! I amazed myself for remembering the whole first verse! I guess you would have to be in the 50 to 60’s age group to know what I am talking about.

Sometimes it is hard to get something out of your head. Some things need to stay there, imbedded in our memories, but often times, they really do need to be forgotten! Memories can come just as fresh and real that are anything BUT warm and fuzzy! Maybe it was an injustice done to you, or a situation that left you asking “why God?”

Some memories bring shame, like the time after I had given my life to the Lord at 14 and not long after, I got high with my brother and his friends. I thought I could sit with them and “witness to them” while they smoked their pot. Maybe they would still think I was “cool”. I was wrong. In the thickness of the smokey room, and the vulnerability of the situation , I got just as stoned as the others and smoked right along with them.

The memory of my brother and our friend who I had been trying to share my faith with, stopping me in the hallway afterwards, looking at me and shaking their heads in disgust saying, “Jana, I thought you said you were a Christian”! Oh the shame I felt! What a hypocrite I was! I let God down, I let them down, and most of all, I let myself down. You see, when I met the Lord on March 3, 1976, as my own personal decision to have a relationship with Him, I had a lot of baggage. I was forgiven and set free from Drugs and alcohol at the age of 14! And to fall back into it only a few months later, well, It took some weeks before I understood that God’s forgiveness wasn’t just a one time thing. It is for the rest of my life. It’s not a license to sin, but when I do, and I do and I will, His love is there to cover me.

When memories flash back that bring you pain, give them to all Jesus, He will turn your sorry into joy. And while you are at it, forgive yourself! Can you remember a time when you needed to wipe a memory? Tell us how you did it and how God helped you through it.

Romans 8:1,2 says, “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the Law of Life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the Law of sin and death.” (Read up to verse 17 for a great read!)

2 Corinthians 5:17I “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things are passed away and behold, all things have become new!”

Click to listen to song


Desert Rain

13 Sunday May 2012

Posted by in Inspirational Thoughts, Life in Africa, The Early Days, Trials to Triumph

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Photo by Heather Walker

1996-97 was a terrible season of drought in Northern Botswana. We lived on the Boteti River and the very last pool of water from the Okavango Delta was in front of our house. In that pool lived 32 Hippos who were hanging on to their last days of life. They were literally starving to death. Their home-the Boteti River was dwindling in the Kalahari sun by the day. The smell of death was all around and nothing could be done about it.

Water was hauled in the back of a hilux Toyota pickup. Water rations were just a part of life. By this time I was pregnant with our 3rd son and we had 2 very active boys who loved to play in the dirt! “a dirty kid is a happy kid” one mama of kids raised in the Botswana bush taught me. So true. There was an old generator that we turned on in the evening for some lights and Video taped shows.

Bath time was especially eventful. We would fill the tub with about 6 inches of water that the whole family had to share. The cleanest person got to go first, which given the family dynamics, that person was usually me! By the time we got to the last bath, that water was black! We then dumped the water down the toilet. We used the “if its yellow let it mellow, if its brown flush it down” method, to stretch the water we did have. Any other water was used to water what little green there was around the house.Image

The grand finale of this season was a mysterious fire that destroyed the house and all its contents, leaving us with a new baby boy and 2 sons-homeless. We wrapped up business and traveled to the USA to my mama’s place in Texas. We arrived exhausted from the journey. When I went in to take a shower I just stood under the water and cried. It had been a tough couple of years. It didn’t feel right to let the water flow like that. I felt guilty. But wonderful at the same time.

Eventually the rains came to our village and gave moisture and life to the dry land. Sometimes our lives are like that. We get dry-dirty-thirsty. We need the rain to come. God desires to pour out his love on us like that shower in my mama’s Texas home. So glorious, so, almost sacred, is that water. Refreshing and restoring my soul from a very difficult season.

Image Revelation 22:17 (ESV)  “The Spirit and the Bride say, ‘Come.’ And let the one who hears say, ‘Come.’ And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.”

We have all heard the phrase “water is life”. I can tell you I know it is true. But there is a river of water that never will run dry. This is God’s love to his kids. Jump in, enjoy, let it wash you clean and be refreshed!

TIME OUT!

12 Saturday May 2012

Posted by in Inspirational Thoughts, Life in Africa, Trials to Triumph

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ImageHere I sit on New Year’s Eve, December 31, 2011. The year has been long and yet fast as a blur! Under the mosquito net at the Royal Tree Lodge Villa, in Maun, Botswana, I have come to have some time alone. The first exercise was reflection over the year, and that is another piece altogether. While listening to worship by Michael W. Smith, I heard Cleo, my fearless Jack Russel, in some kind of fight. Looks like it was a Genet or a Mongoose. Do Mongoose’s climb trees? Either way, she has 2 chunks of flesh missing now against her beautiful white and accents of brown coat. I managed to clean her up good though and now she is looking so solemn. I only brought her because she looked so sad as I was leaving and she recently lost her real mom, Linda, who has just retired from the field. I also felt like I could brave the Villa alone, far from the main lodge and close to the river, if she was with me “to protect me”.

Today I got completely overwhelmed with life. As a woman, I am what I consider to be-at least most of the time-privileged- to be a wife, a mom, a minister, and a myriad of other titles that have been bestowed upon me. Heck, this year I even received an Honorary Doctorate of Divinity! Well, titles aside, it is a day of serious self evaluation before God. Sometimes life is just too hard! Wonderful are the days when everything works and my children are perfect and my husband heaps loads of niceties upon me. But this day wasn’t one of them.

So I lost my cool with dishes, laundry, no water on our property for days and lazy children who wouldn’t go fetch water out of the pool. So I got in the car and drove to a nearby graveyard. Yep, that will put life in perspective! I walked for what seemed hours looking for the grave of a young lady we dearly loved and who was in an accident a few years ago. Turns out I was at the wrong graveyard, but the exercise did have the desired impact.

All the months of going “full speed ahead” caught up with me. The 38 activities planned for the 31 days in December have now passed, well, almost. 3 ½ hours to go. Who ever had the idea of putting Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve on a Saturday night? I remember 7 years ago like it was yesterday. And here we are again. I have dreaded it all month. Look, I love church, don’t get me wrong. Its just that its nice when we can celebrate our holidays with our families at home. Chill, bake, watch movies, play games. So tonight, on the eve of the biggest day of the year, I am in a room, in a house, on a game lodge, alone, just me and my dog, while the rest of the family, including my dear mother-in-law, are going to be spiritual and at 10 pm to midnight be in church to welcome the new year in. Then they will get up tomorrow morning and go to church again. I still haven’t made up my mind if I will throw on some makeup and rush over there through the bush in my Jeep. Probably not, but at least the thought is there.

I didn’t get into this state of mind overnight and I guess I won’t get out of it so quick either. But the point is, sometimes we just have to take a “time out”. I am having my “time out” with God. I will let you know how it goes.

Happy New Year!