Nick's Trip to Sierra Leone (Pics!)

A few posts ago, I told you that Nick was going to Sierra Leone, Africa with a team from our church.  Well, he's back now (yay)!  Nick and the team got back just ta week ago today after 10 days in SL, and it was a really good trip.

The thing that amazed me most about this trip was the way it fit Nick's heart and experiences like a glove...

Our church is partnered with a ministry there and, in many ways, ministries are just like businesses, right?  The team weighed in on management decisions, small business opportunities, and met with the ministry's board.  An amazingly perfect fit for Nick's business/management brain and his interest in social enterprise/microfinance (he took classes in seminary on this because he wanted to learn more).

The other part of the trip was pouring into the churches and church members - preaching on Sunday and teaching Bible courses (thankful for those preaching classes and seminary).  Of course, our year in East Asia with Crusade was helpful from the missionary aspect too. So cool.

The church where Nick preached.

We are so thankful to God for allowing Nick to have this opportunity that used all of his "random" patchwork of things he is passionate about - social enterprise, business, and ministry.

The thing that surprised and saddened Nick most was definitely the level of poverty that he saw in the city of Freetown. The unemployment rate is especially high there (something like 75%), and the economy is only slowly recovering after so many years of civil war.  We have seen poverty before - in Mexico, in China, etc. - but he said this was definitely different.

If you think about it, please pray for peace among the staff, wisdom for the board, and wisdom for our church as we continue this partnership.  If you are hungry for more info, you can go back and read some of the day-to-day updates on our church's blog!  More pictures hopefully to come soon too!

Birthdays and Trips Gratitude: #71-90

As part of my "30 things to do before 30" list, I'm keeping a running list of everyday things I am grateful for.  It helps me be more fully aware of the daily gifts that God gives, and all the sacred moments in a normal day.  Inspired by Ann Voskamp's 1,000 gifts project and my friend Kit.


71. Glass of cold water before bed
72. Pancakes for breakfast
73. Husband home safe
74. Lingering breakfast with an old, dear friend
75. A warning instead of a ticket
76. Singing for friends who haven't heard me in a long time 
77. Meeting other songwriters
78. Middle-of-the-night rocking to sleep
79. God's hand working in all things

80. One year with her, with all the ups and downs



81. The help of moms and mother-in-laws
82. The pink smear of icing and cupcake
83. Long dinner with old friends
84. A friend's vulnerability
85. More freedom in prayer
86. Job's responses to the stripping (Job 1:21 & 2:10)
87. Husband's trip fitting him like a glove
88. Making it 10 days without him
89. A night of recording music
90. New life in the middle of my dead plant

37 weeks left. 47 songs to go.

Tonight, all I want to do is sit on my couch and eat Blue Bell ice cream with peanut butter (don't knock it 'til you've tried it!). I have no desire to record or write a song, although I have a good chunk of time since Ellie is sleeping and Nick is out of town.  It's nights like these that I wonder... can I really do this?  Can I really write a song for every book of the Bible before 11/11/11?  This is TOUGH!

I put together a "best of" Scripture to Music playlist for those of you who would like to listen to the songs but maybe haven't been able to keep up with the 1 to 2 new songs a week (I can barely keep up myself!).  If you listen to any of the songs, please listen to these.  You can also download most of them for FREE!  If you are reading this on Google Reader, or something like that, just go directly to the blog post.  Hope they encourage you!

I'll also be posting a top four from every "quarter".  Check out the first quarter top 4!

Best of Scripture to Music Project by Caroline Cobb