“Let me drive, Huh?” -God.

“We were honestly second guessing ourselves and our decision.  We were about to just give it up.  Knowing it was just going to be too hard.  And then the Lord rocked my world the very next day when I heard him say to me, “Christine.  Do you feel less equipped today than you did yesterday?  Do you feel less confident, secure, and less in control today than you did yesterday?  Then good.  Then maybe you can let me take over and be in the driver’s seat for awhile…”

Hearing this story from a friend about how she and her husband were losing hope from some of the adoption classes they were attending just stuck in my mind.  Like that song you hear on the radio in the morning, and then for 3 days later, it’s in your head on repeat?  “Then good.  Then maybe you can let me take over and be in the driver’s seat for awhile….”……………..   Wow.

I would be lying if I said I felt like this trip I’m about to take has ANYTHING to do with me anymore.

I know that sounds funny.  It shouldn’t be about me.  Well when you have control issues, it may not be about you, but it’s definitely about your way.  Well.  God definitely wanted and DID reiterate, time and time again, that It’s NOT UP TO ME…

When the idea to host a music based mission trip came up, it was almost two years ago.  Since then, I’ve had it in my head how I wanted it to go.

It was going to be huge.  It was going to be big.  A production.  Think: American Idol + Carrie Underwood meets Africa style.  Reach for the moon big.  Popular artists.  Bands. Concert style.  Stage, lights, sound…. Yeah.

As a staff, we finally put the trip on the calendar last November and started the wait period for team members to sign up.

and nothing.

and nothing.

I wrote emails.  I contacted artists.  I wrote agents, managers, pulled favor cards I hadn’t used in years….

I was up to my eye balls in recruitment and promotion mode.

…. AND NOTHING.

Days and weeks went by when I literally felt the air being choked out of my lungs, as I started to second guess myself.  “God, did I hear you right?”  “Am I really supposed to be doing this trip?”  “God, why aren’t musicians wanting to come on board and share their passions with orphans?” “God, I thought I heard you loud and clear, but what am I doing wrong?” “God, WHERE IS EVERYONE??????”

When He finally said to me, “Amanda.  Do you feel less confident about this trip today than you did yesterday?  Do you feel less equipped, secure, and in control today than you did yesterday?  Like maybe, the vision of this trip wasn’t yours in the first place?  Then good.  Then maybe you can let me take over and be in the driver’s seat for awhile…”

and it wasn’t but a day or two later we had the first sign up.  And then the second.  And then the team of worship leaders finally started trickling in.  Then a family of four.  Then, a newfound dear friend of mine right here from Nashville signed up last minute….

It was almost like I HAD to start laughing.  There was no way to explain it… except

God needed me to sit down.  Take the passenger seat.  Stop being in control so HE could orchestrate who was going to be on the team.  So HE could handpick, personally choose, who he wanted and needed to be on board with this mission.

And take over He did.

Not only has he woven together a team, uniting from all across the United States.  He is bringing together the likes of everyone from musical artists, to worship leaders, to Crossfit trainers and dancers…

And it’s today that I’m so thankful He took the wheel.  I can’t WAIT to meet these people.  I can’t WAIT to pour out the love to those we’re going to meet in Rwanda together with these empowered, ignited, amazing team members of mine…

AFRICA, HERE WE COME.

THANK YOU to everyone for your encouraging support and prayers for this trip!!  We’d all love for your prayers as we venture on the first ever, MUSIC + MISSIONS: Rwanda trip with Visiting Orphans!

MEET THE TEAM!!! 

THE BRADLEY FAMILY:

Tom, Jessie, Josh, Renee

CAMERON HOGAN

FRANK PASS

JACOB MAINER

JACQUE JONES-ZENDER

:)  I Just love this pic.  Tom and Jessie Bradley again

KASSIE WILSON

AMY BETH COLEMAN

and yours truly,

LOVE YA’LL !  

Stay tuned !

Over n’ out for now.

~A.Rae

SISTERHOOD: WAC Part #1

sis·ter  (sstr) n. 1. A female having the same parents as another or one parent in common with another. 2. A girl or woman who shares a common ancestry, allegiance, character, or purpose with another or others, specifically: a. A kinswoman. b. A woman fellow member, as of a sorority. c. A fellow woman. d. A close woman friend or companion. e. A fellow African-American woman or girl. 3. Informal Used as a form of address for a woman or girl. 4. Abbr. Sr. Ecclesiastical a. A member of a religious order of women; a nun. b. Used as a form of address for such a woman, alone or followed by the woman's name. 5. Chiefly British A nurse, especially the head nurse in a ward. 6. One identified as female and closely related to another: "the sisters Death and Night" (Walt Whitman). adj. 1. Related by or as if by sisterhood; closely related: sister ships; sister cities. 2. Genetics Of or being one of an identical pair: sister chromatids.

WAC.

Related.


by or as if by Sisterhood.  Closely Related.


What’s so wonderfully beautiful about never having been on a mission trip before?  You really never ever know what you’re going to get.  You never know what to expect.


And I never expected coming home with two new sisters.

True, God-given sisters.

WYNNE ‘TRIPPET’ ELDER

‘W’AC Part #1

Wynne and my relationship is unique.  Having never met before until we landed in DC on our way to Ethiopia, she and her husband come flying into the airport, late--barely making the ET connector, having packed like four 80 lb bags and getting through security without any additional charges, I made a mental note to myself:  “These two are surrounded by a huge Grace Bubble.  Make sure to be their friend.”

… and our friendship grew into so much more…

Over the course of our trip, we learned so much about each other.  Our darkest secrets.  Our funny quarks.  Our deepest hurt and pain.  Our love for football, tattoos, headbands, and Korah.  Our love for photography.  (But please note, Love and Talent are two VERY different things…. Wynne has the talent. :D )  We can go weeks without talking and dial up a Skype call and start right where we left off. Silence isn’t awkward to us.  Friendship ministry is on our top ten most important things in life to us.

But what I share the most with Wynne, is our love TO GO.  We both share the same passion for Africa and know we are called to DO MORE with what we have been given.  What I love about Wynne… IS THAT SHE’S DOING IT.

And even more?  She’s BEEN to Rwanda.  She’s met, hugged, and loved on the same kiddos that I am but a month away from meeting.  And I would be honored to share what she’s shared about her experience there…

Wynne.

I’ve been blessed to have met you.  My life is so complete knowing I have you in it.  Your sisterhood is priceless to me.  And today, the world REJOICED when you entered it.  I pray HUGE blessings over you today, your birthday….

MARCH 21, 2012

when we visit orphans...{Rwanda week}

So a little break from the heavy :)

I did a few posts from my last trip simply about what we "do" when we go Visit Orphans

{with Visiting Orphans!}

since I have so many fun pics from Noel, I thought I'd show you!

What we do...

{picture by Alison Holcomb}

We sit on benches with friends and chat.  about their hopes & dreams, about the justin beiber playing on my phone, just about life!

{picture by Alison Holcomb}

They give us tours of the rest of the orphanage

toddlers sleeping....

they have pigs!!!

{picture by Alison Holcomb}

we paint fingernails

we watch the shows they put on for us!

drumming in this case!

it's so fun to get to cheer, watch, take pics, video and cheer on our friends! 

I always feel like a proud mom at her kids school show! 

inside & outside shows!

and "sport" aka gymnastics shows!

the boys aren't the only ones with skills - we got treated to a dance show!

you might even get called up to participate!

we also...

hold babies

pick up lots of little kids who just want some loving!

watch the little kids dance and sing and have fun

watch the big kids play sports!

we lead the kids in worship

smile for pictures!

and take pictures...

we befriend the kids who sort of sit to the side.  we ask them what their hopes and dreams are.  they take us to their room to show off their hair braiding skills :) 

spend time with the toddlers visiting the cows & playing in the yard

use our gifts.

play the sax!

hold hands

make kids laugh

we listen to their dreams of being an artist/architect and encourage them in those dreams! 

we let the kids SHARE their gifts with us.  

we encourage them in those gifts and support them.

we play silly games with them that make them smile

we get in there and PLAY with them!

if you are me, you give your boys rights to your phone for the day and they listen to every song ....

and LOVE IT!

More than anything, we simply love.

you too can GO!

check out Visiting Orphans 

read more from my Rwanda Week

Power of Relationships

Give Shoes, Give Life. 

You Could Have #5: Waiting Rooms

Katherine, you made my day on Tuesday….

Sitting in the intimidating, cold, dreary waiting room at the hospital, waiting for them to take yet another 4 tubes of blood, because they hadn’t taken enough the FIRST time I was there… I probably looked like I had just been told the world was going to end.  Crabby.  Unhappy.  and definitely, “PLEASE don’t bother ME with YOUR pesky problems--I have my own, thank you” kind of look.

Like everyone else who waits, I picked up my book, looked at the TV, looked around the room, looked down at my book again… Not a word spoken.  Like everyone else, I didn’t want to make eye contact with anyone, yet truthfully wondered why everyone else wast there, too.  I was miserable.

I heard my mother’s voice loud and clear, “Keep pouting and your face is gonna freeze that way!” ….. 20 some odd years later, I think my face froze.

A girl walked into the waiting room.  She walked with a bit of a stumble, between the brace around her leg and the hobble from her hip, I wasn’t sure what her diagnosis was but it was clear she had a small handicap.  As I looked down from the TV and followed her limp around the room, she stopped at the table, picked up a magazine and shrieked, and is if she’d seen her live in person said, “LOOK MOM!  Look who it is.”

Dolly.

Good ‘ole Dolly P. brings such joy into a room.

But that’s not what made me smile.

As Katherine’s mom left the room to go talk to the doctor, she got up and went to the drinking fountain.  And it wasn’t but a second she stopped, stood in front of me, face to face, direct eye contact and said… the words I still hear in my daydreams and thoughts at night,

“You. are. beautiful.  Your hair and your smile.  You have such pretty eyes.  I wouldn’t change a thing about you.  Not a thing.  You could be… a … a.. Princess.”

…. Katherine, the way you spoke to your mom.  The way you interacted with everyone in that room.  Your smile and your attitude.  It’s not because you told me I was pretty that day.  And I’m definitely not writing this as a stroke on my ego, to tell the world what you said.  Because if anything, it completely shamed and humbled me.  Almost embarrassed me by how ‘unpretty’ I actually felt and acted like that day.  You made my heart raw all over again.

Katherine, you sat down, started flippin through Dolly’s magazine, again looked up at me and said, “I don’t know why you think you need to, but you don’t need to change a thing.  Nothing.”…… and continued to flip your pages.  As if it was nothing.


But it was something.

I managed a smile and a meek, “you are so sweet, thank you, what is your name”…. but really, all I wanted to do was cry.

It was as if you could see right through my heart that day.  Could read everything floating around my head that day.  And for some reason, drilled a hole right through my soul.

Katherine, you and your spark.  Thank you.

Your pure joy for such small pleasures.

Your excitement and honesty.

Your boldness.

Katherine, you could have sat down, waited for your lab like the rest of us, silent and solemn, ignoring the joys of life around you, too…..

But you didn’t.

You could have kept to yourself, worried about what everyone else in the room was thinking.

But you didn’t.

YOU COULD HAVE influenced my attitude adjustment.
YOU COULD HAVE made me, too, want to dance around life…

and you did.

i RUN for orphans

I was never a runner.  I never wanted to just ‘run’ as a hobby.  

And then I signed up, and finished, two half marathons.  Well, little did I know, those half marathons would be stepping stones, very symbolic events, that would be played out in years to come...

As I’ve seen myself do with things in life, after I finished that first 1/2 marathon in San Diego in 2004-- I said, “There.  I’m done.  That was insane, tough, brutal, and ... hard.  And I don’t EVER want to do it again.”  And I was finished.  I had my heart set on quitting the running world....

And as life has it, the road between then and today was the bumpiest, curviest, most challenging journey I’ve faced.  And almost 7 years later, I felt the emptiness creep inside as my heart tugged towards the pavement.  I was to be out on those early morning training days, and I knew it, but thought I would never be there again.  The training was hard, but I was at such a low place in my life that running was like therapy to me.  It got me through some pretty muddy water and some really tough times, and crossing that finish line for the 2nd time was even MORE victorious for me than the first.

But something was still missing.

As I crossed that finish line at LP Stadium last April, running 13.1 miles around Music City with 35,000 other runners and even 25,000 more people cheering me on, there was still an emptiness inside me.  One that said I needed more.

I wanted to keep going.

So, here I am, another year later and wondering WHAT IN THE WORLD I have gotten myself into as I start the long training season for my very first, very long, Chicago Marathon in October.  Hundreds of miles of rough terrain ahead of me.

But instead of wanting to quit, I can’t tell you how excited I am to be a part of this world again.

THIS is what it’s about.  This feeling.  The nerves are there, the adrenaline.  You feel the encouragement from fellow runners.  The high after hitting certain mileage.  How all your conversations usually revolve around which trail, which shoes, which shot block, Gu, or mileage you’re at.

They say it’s a lifestyle, and now i know why...

I meant it about that 1st and 2nd half marathon being very forth-telling in how my life would be in the years to come:

Just like committing to the 1st, and then the 2nd half, I NEVER thought I would ever go to Africa.  I didn’t even think I would ever work for an organization that deals with orphans oversees.  But after moving to Nashville and working for this amazing ministry, I knew it was where I was supposed to be.  I went to Uganda and Ethiopia last summer.... and like the first half, it was hard.  It was tough, insane, brutal and .... Life Changing.

And when I got back.....something was missing.  Like that 2nd marathon, I knew I needed more.  

I wanted to keep going.

And so here I am, about to take on yet another trip, only 9 months after coming home from my first trip.  Leaving the end of May, I get to experience Rwanda for the first time and journey down this road... AGAIN.

My heart is beating.  I’m scared and nervous and anxious and excited and overwhelmed--just like training for a marathon.  But my heart is beating.  This is what makes me feel alive.  Like pounding foot to pavement in a race, we pound foot to dirt on the mission field.  My heart beats.

I get to visit over 600 orphans in Rwanda this year, telling them how important they are.  That they have a purpose, a destiny.  That they have been forgiven, or that they have a place in this world.  I get to love on them.  And when it’s said and done, it’s probably more therapy to me than them.  And my heart beats.

They say it’s a lifestyle, and now i know why...

Because of this, a running team called the Roadkill Surfers and I have committed to raising money for Visiting Orphans when we commit to running an event.  Each time we cross that finish line, we want to remember that we’re running for a Cause.  There are 163 million orphans in the world.  The finish line for the Orphan doesn’t look like it’ll ever draw near, but at least we can run the Race.

I’m asking you today, to remember every race, triathlon, or competition you’ve ever run.  That feeling you get crossing the tape.  The excitement you feel with each accomplishment.  The overwhelming joy you receive as each step gets you closer and closer to the end.

That’s how I feel when I get to visit these children, and I’m asking for your help in getting me there.

As a “Roadkill Surfer”, we have opportunities for businesses AND/OR individuals to Sponsor us, establishing your brand to say YOU CARE.  That you’re part of this world, too.

We have opportunities for individuals to sponsor a lot, or a little.  But it doesn’t matter.  I need to hit $3,800.  But anything will help.  Any contribution will get me closer to that finish line...

**There are many ways to sponsor if you’re able.  The easiest, and I like to think, most convenient way is to go to our DONATE page on the website.

VISITING ORPHANS: DONATE HERE

You’ll be asked which FUND CATEGORY:

-Drop the menu to RWANDA (MUSIC AND MISSIONS)- May/June 2012

*Amount to Donate

*Repeating Donation (you can click NO)

*PREFERENCE THE DONATION TOWARD SPECIFIC TEAM MEMBER

-Click Team Member or ministry and type my name, AMANDA HERDINA in the box

And there ya have it.  You will be well on your way to helping change and inspire an orphan’s life forever.  You’ve already inspired mine....

Run ‘til the end,

Amanda Herdina