Why I am not a poet.

I was going to attempt todo a cute little poem along the lines of:

Twas' the 'fore Tanzania
And all through the house
Was littered clothing items
And some sort of blouse.

But obviously poetry skills evade me. I have been realizing, however, something very, very profound. Everything was created to point to Jesus Christ. No matter if it is the Atheist or the snow outside or the deserts of Africa! God created them to glorify Jesus. As the Scripture says, "One day every knee will bow...and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord!" Isn't it interesting how we try to avoid this fact and deny Jesus' supremecy? I mean daily I try to point to myself and glorify me, but Jesus uses my sinful strivings to glorify Himself in the longrun. So, here is the thought that has been chewing on my brain. Why don't I just give in to His desire and just glorify Him already?! I mean He's gonna get the glory anyway so why don't I try to get started now?! It's because His grace is made perfect in my weakness, and therfore He is glorified. And even my willing glorification is done through His shed blood.

So there stood my Jesus
All in Glory and Grace
And he chose me despite my fuss
To look on His face

Ok, I'll quit with the poetry!

For His name is the desire of my heart,
BenZ

Merry Messiahmas!

I doubt I will post again until after Jesus' birthday celebration. I wish all of you a very joyfilled Christmas. Remember to ponder the miracle of God becoming man. He left His throne, His majesty, His glory to take on human flesh and bone. He was God and man. He ate and drank. He slept and yawned. He had a mother and a father. He stubbed His toe and cut His finger. Divinity became humanity. The King of all became a servant to all. The Creator became creation. Baby. Helpless. God. Man. Jew. Life. Death. Messiah. Redeemer.

Remember the cross. There is no Easter without Christmas. And Christmas is meaningless without Easter. Thank You, Father, for your love, mercy and grace You gave us when you sent Jesus as a baby. My mind cannot truly comprehend the full reality of God becoming man. Thank you for the manger. Thank you for the cross.

Happy Birthday Jesus!
Jaclyn

Single Digit Temperatures

It is freezing outsize. The last couple of days we have had cold temperatures and snow. This morning beats them all! We now have 6 inches of snow and the high in Denver today is 4 degrees. Add windchill on there and we are at -11 degrees! Burrrrrrrr! This is the bone chilling kind of cold. The kind of weather where you freeze the moment you step outside and it takes you 30 minutes to thaw once you are inside. As I walked out the door to come to work, my mom said, "Just think, you will leave this and go to Africa." Current temperature in Dar es Salaam is 91 degrees. Here I am wearing a sweater... while contemplating what sandals to wear in 2 weeks! It takes a little brain stretching to assemble a wardrobe for 90 degrees while looking at snow out your window.

Just Give Me Jesus,
Jaclyn

Down the homestretch...

To do List:

Two and a half days until Christmas. Sixteen days until we leave for Tanzania. We have so much to do in the next few days and a TON to do in the next two weeks!

• Finish wrapping Christmas gifts
• Clean-up the house
• Choose wardrobe for trip
• Get hair cut
• Buy vitamins
• Order Malaria prescription
• Finish my nanny job
• Celebrate the new year
• Pack our team bags
• Spend time with the family
• Mail bills and balance checkbook
• Celebrate the coming of the magi
• GET SOME SLEEP!

That should be enough to keep an army busy! We finished our Typhoid pills on Monday with neither of us suffering ill side effects- a major blessing!

Team Scavenger Hunt!

Our team has been collecting supplies for 200 care packages, both individual and family. We had a meeting on Sunday and counted all of the supplies that had been donated to our team. Praise God for all that people gave! We are still short on the following:

• Toothbrushes- need 75-100 more
• Toothpaste- need 100 more (regular or travel size)
• Washcloths- need 150 more (18 for $5 at Walmart!)
• Shampoo- need 100 more (travel size)

We also need supplies for crafts:

• 65 pairs of tube socks (the ones without heels)
• Gospel colored beads (red, black, white, yellow and green)
• glue sticks
• Staplers (5-8)
• Staples

December 30th we will meet to assemble the care packages and decide what final purchases need to be made! Pray that we can make more care packages than we planned! Thank you to all for your support and prayers!

For His Renown,

Jaclyn