10,341 miles later..

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.....IM HOME!

It's hard to believe that 48 hours ago I was walking around in South Africa and now I'm cozying up in my bed.. in ALABAMA. Technology is crazy to me.

Outside of having to pay 300$ in fees and fines (thank you, South African airways.. be expecting a letter from me soon..), my journey home was great. After the Alabanza team and I prayed EARNESTLY that I'd have either great seat partners or NO seat partners, I spent my first 2 flights (a 10 hour and a 9 hour) with the seats next to me empty.

No doubt in my mind that God answers prayer. I stretched out, kicked back.. it was wonderful!

It was certainly sad to leave my friends in South Africa, but I have overwhelming peace knowing that this season of life was over. I'm prepared for a seamless transition back to life here, with a greater understanding of who I am and what my purpose is. Along with the Lord, I have many of you to thank for that.
To those of you that invested in this journey, through encouragement, prayer, or financial support, I am forever indebted to you (I know this whole 'thank you' spill is getting old.. but you'll have to get past that.. because I am VERY thankful for you and.. ill probably never get over it).

.. You NEED to see how far your support went (and is still going..). so stay tuned.. I have many pictures and many more stories to tell... but for now, its sleep and a hot shower.. hallelujah.



--LEE

READ IT!

first-- thanks so much for all of the encouragement after my blog yesterday.. the emails and comments have really shed light on things and I feel confident that The Lord is doing just as He wants. I know i say it every blog, but you guys are really incredible. I'm SO thankful for you.

second- I have lots of things to blog about, but I'm running out of time.. stay tuned because tomorrow I'm posting some things you will be interested in. Many of you have asked how you could be a part of ministries here... and tomorrow I'll give you a full list. You do NOT want to miss it. Also, I am still lacking about 200$ in support and need it to pay fo rmy last two weeks of housing here. Will you join me in praying for this? I have no doubt He will provide.. He always does.

third- you have to read this blog: http://audreycaroline.blogspot.com/ ... I am serious, it has had an enormous impact on my spiritual walk.. this lady gets it and she makes it easy for others to catch on. PLEASE DO YOURSELF A FAVOR.. AND READ IT. start at the beginning, but be sure to catch the latest post written on the 25th. You won't regret it.. tell me if you go, and what you think!!


love you guys and thank you again.. thank you thank you thank you!!

Lee

EXCITEMENT OVERLOAD..

WE ARE OFFICIALLY SWAZI-BOUND!!!!

I can't even contain myself. If you've been a part of my life for the last year, you know the real desire I had to reconnect with the special people of Swaziland. I LOVE THEM DEEPLY and hold them in a very intimate part of me. I promise, if you had spent the summer with them.. or even a day or two.. you would feel the same. THIS IS WHY I CAME BACK. Unfortunately, we weren't able to get back to Swazi right when we arrived, and for the last 2 weeks we have been doign ministry here in South Africa.. but it's official.. we will be in Swaziland on Monday. AHhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)

We did get Theresa's car back .. but she's not exactly road-ready. You'll understand when you see her.. I'll be sure to post pictures later! (be ready to laugh as you picture me cruising in this baby..)

.. so instead of taking her car, we are renting a newer, WORKING car to take us to Swaziland. We booked our rental today and we are headed out with an American team on Monday morning. One of the StudentLife interns here at Alabanza is headed out with us, and we can't wait to share this experience with her.

SO.. please pray as we get logistics sorted out for our BIG trip.. and get ready to celebrate with us.. we KNOW God is going to do incredible things during our week there!

more to come later!

Love you guys.. Lee

HE HEALS!

Hey Guys.. its Lee again finally :).

Thanks Mom for putting up that prayer request, you're the best!



As mom mentioned, Tapiwa (this is the correct spelling and its pronounced TAh-PEE-WAH), one of the Zimbabwean refugees has been very ill. He had been suffering from a toothache most of all last week, and we kept him medicated with ibuprofen, and even some of our pain pills from home. However, the pain escalated andby Thursday we realized we had a real issue on our hands. He didn't sleep any that night.. and they took him to a doctor on Friday, but as mom mentioned, no one would see him. They brought him home and he tried to rest. However, when Theresa went to check on him that night, she found him weak and very disoriented. If you know anything about bad teeth, you know that not having them treated is deadly. It was obvious that this was a serious issue. After much chaos, they got him to another hospital about 50 miles away. However, they would not see him because "it wasn't urgent" (translation: He is from Zimbabwe..). They then spent the night traveling to 4 other hospitals who denied him access. Those of us back at home were frantic and very worried. We were sure he wouldn't make it through the night.. His whole face was swollen and signs of infection were obvious. After 5 careless rejections (don't even get me started..), he finally came home, and we doped him up on some makeshift antibiotics and painkillers, and prayed that it wasn't too late.



He did sleep through most of the night, and Saturday was another day of getting rejected by clincs and hospitals. UGH!!! We really began to ask for divine healing, because at this point, we didn't think there was much more to do. He woke up Sunday with less pain and his roommates said he slept through most of the night.
Well.. as of today.. HE IS HEALED!!!!
His face is back to normal, no swelling and he is smiling, laughing, and eating again!
We are still going to attempt another doctor tomorrow to make sure he is ok.. but from what we can see, God completely restored him! PRAISE HIM!!

Isn't it amazing when you get to the end of your rope, when you run out of ideas, and you put your total dependence on the greatest Helper of all, that you see hope and change???

He is truly a Faithful God... the same One who moved in the days of Noah, Daniel, and Peter is alive and making the same miracles happen today! Now, THAT is amazing.

Praise God.
Thanks for your prayers.. they are being heard and being felt an ocean away!

AFRICA OR BUST!

(If this is your first time on this page, welcome! Stay a while, browse around, read old posts, etc. Friends and family, this is the best place to stay up to speed on what the Lord is doing while I'm in Africa. If all goes as planned, you'll be able to find updates here DAILY. I'm so thankful that you have invested in this trip. Your prayers and gracious giving are sending me out and I need you to stay connected for the rest of the journey! As you partner with me, I'd also love it if you'd leave comments or email me about what's going on with you. Have fun reading... )

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Well, y'all, it's that time! I can't believe its finally here. In my peripheral vision I see 2 huge suitcases (and by huge I mean they will get the dreaded 'heavy' tag tomorrow and have to go in that special section of the airplane.. i can't help it). They are all zipped up and only need a few more items before they are loaded up in the car. How exciting! How absolutely terrifying..

I've been thinking about this blog all day and how I would articulate all the things I really wanted to say... but of course, I have major writers block. Maybe its because my mind is on information overload, but I'm really at a loss for words (shocking, yes!).

This time last year, I was already in Africa with my team and I was giving little pieces of my heart to all the beautiful children and adults that I met. Some got more of my heart than others, and I'm sure you guys are worn out from hearing all the stories. I feel like I left so much of myself in Swaziland and Johannesburg last summer. I would try to write some poetic letter about how "now its time to go get it back".. but that wouldn't really be true.... I guess its really just time to go and give more. Actually, thats not true either. It's really just time to go and GET more. I didn't give half (ok, if we are getting technical, 'I' didn't give anything.. He did through me.. but I digress) of what I got. Those people left so much of themselves in me. They left forever footprints, marking their presence on my life. "They rocked my world", as my cousin says. I'm so ready to see them and let them do it again.

I was thinking in my car today, "Why in the world do I want to do this?" (I'm sure my mom will call me when she reads that and give me an answer to that question in an effort to keep me here.. too bad I'll already be on my way!) But seriously, why am I going? Me, Lord? REALLY? Do you know me? I'm a wreck. I'm lost and confused and definitely not worthy of such a calling. I don't have the strength to stand on my own two feet, much less run boldly into this radical place called AFRICA.

Through that mystery question "ME, LORD? REALLY? ARE YOU SURE? DO YOU REALLY KNOW WHO YOU'RE DEALING WITH..??", I have found a spring of hope that gives me answers. The truth is, THIS IS THE BEAUTY OF THE CROSS. The Lord never chose the ones who had it all together. I know for some of you, this seems obvious and more like a Sunday School lesson, but for me, its a truth that needed reiteration for my feeble little brain.

I mean, look to the Word.....

Before becoming a great Christian evangelist spreading the word of Christ, the apostle Paul was called Saul and he traveled around trying to destroy Christianity (Acts 8). Abrahm lied telling one king that his beautiful wife Sarai was his sister, because he didn’t trust God to protect him. He was afraid they would kill him to take Sarai for themselves. (Genesis 12:10-20) Later Abrahm was Abraham and he told yet another king the same lie about his wife Sarah, again not trusting God to protect him. (Genesis 20) Peter was able to walk on water until he took his eyes off Jesus and looked at the wind and waves instead. (Matthew 14:25-31) Peter also denied Christ three times. Moses killed a man and you know how God used him.

There are so many more.. Jonah, Rahab.

I certainly don't have it all together.. but I'm finding that thats such a great place to be. In my brokenness and lifelessness, I get to surrender myself to the foot of the cross. When I'm empty, HE gets more room in my life. When my pieces fall apart, HE gets to put them back together. When I'm a loser and make bad decisions, He gets to be the superhero that rescues me.

In all of that, HE GETS ALL THE CREDIT. ALL THE GLORY GOES TO HIM.. JUST AS HE DESERVES.

I want these next 6 weeks to be NOTHING about me. NOTHING AT ALL.

{I want more of You, and less of me. Jesus move through me. Empty me out and push me aside so that you can stand front and center.. so you can SHINE!}

My prayer is that I'd give up any expectations or desires I have for this journey and surrender to His perfect plan. If I could do that, I can ONLY IMAGINE what's going to happen.

I'd love it if you'd pray too.

I want to write more, but I'm exhausted and have to be up SO early in the morning. I'm going to leave you with a prayer list. I hope you'll bookmark this post, print it out, put it on your fridge, whatever.. we NEED your prayers and CANNOT survive without them.

Would you Pray for:

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***I fly out at 7:30 tomorrow night. Please pray that we make it to Atlanta on time.. our family loves to be late.

****I'll be meeting Theresa in Chicago, with only 45 minutes between flights. I can't wait to dominate the O'hare Airport!

*** We'll fly to Frankfurt then onto Johannesburg. Please pray that those flights are safe and that we don't encounter any issues on our way there. You could also pray that 2 business class seats free up so that my little surgery wound can have more room for 18+ hours in the air... that would be AMAZING.

****PLEASE PLEASE PRAY that our hosts pick us up on time in Johannesburg. This airport is the most dangerous in the world (sorry mom) and we don't want to have to stick around any longer than we have to :)

****Pray for the staff that will host us for the next few days. We have some logistics to work out when we get there.. I'll fill in with more details later.

*****Pray for Theresa and I's families. Theresa is going to be gone for a YEAR, so tommorrow will be a hard day for her.

****Pray for our bodies. The next few days are gonna be crazy and my body will probably hate me.

****Pray that our luggage makes it. Jo'Burg is FAMOUS for "losing" luggage. AH! THAT WOULD BE A NIGHTMARE!

****Pray for the Creel's and the McCallister's as they endure a long day of waiting for baby Emma to arrive!

****Protection

****Ministry Opportunities

****You can also pray that my transcripts get transfered by 10 am tomorrow.. if not, there will be a whole new list of prayer requests :)

****Pray against any complications on our flights, in customs..

****pray for our hearts and minds, and that we would be unified as a team. Pray also that we'd be wise and would lean on Him when we're tired or frustrated (airports can bring out the worst in people!

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Ok, I think I've about covered it.

HOW CAN I PRAY FOR YOU???

I'll write more tomorrow from the airport (hopefully).. Keep looking out.

I LOVE YOU GUYS AND IM SO EXCITED FOR US TO TAKE THIS JOURNEY TOGETHER. Here we go......

LeeGrayson

Plan B- no such thing

ive started and stopped and restarted this little post around 85 times. explaining the situation, without making it a nine page essay is proving to be difficult. I'm not good at shortening stories, I like adding to them better. But here is my 86th attempt:

I had a plan. My plan was that I would finish all my finals, enjoy the last little bit of time with friends, and pack up and head home for 2 weeks of rest and relaxation. Then, I'd be back in Auburn to start school on the 22nd of May, I'd work, and I'd raise support and count down the days until I was back in Africa.

It wouldn't be a story if it didn't have a twist, right? Well, my twist was that I was really sick. I spent nearly a week in and out of doctor's offices. On top of it all, I was pretty certain I had a broken tailbone. Finally, after spending the first week of my supposed "rest and relaxation", in cold, sterile doctors offices we finally realized that there was more going on than we thought. At the end of that week, a doctor finally laid some claims as to what had been going on, and I was diagnosed with Pilonidal Sinus Disease. This was causing my sickness and the 'broken tailbone', was actually a "rapidly enlarging pilonidal cyst" that had to be removed immediately. So, into surgery I went. My cyst was much larger and much more infected than they anticipated, and so they prepared us for what sounded like a pretty messy time of recovery.

Usually, people are fully recovered after 12 weeks. Most don't walk until beginning of week 3, sit or drive until a month. Unfortunately, because my cyst was so out of control, they couldn't close up my wound and they sent me home with an open incision that goes from my tailbone to my lower back.

So, for me, every decision or idea I had prior to May 12th has been in question. It's been a rollercoaster, but its really been ok. I'm apparently super woman when it comes to healing, and my home nurses and my doctor can't believe the rate a which I'm progressing. My 4 inch long, 2 inch deep incision is closing up and I've been in no pain. NO PAIN! Praise God. This surgery is known as being pretty ugly, and to me, it's been virtually painless. That blows my mind. They prepared us for the worst, but as usual, God showed up and God showed off. He's unreal.

I guess it's not really the medical stuff that had me worried or confused. It's incredible how peaceful that whole side of the issue has been. I know its real, I know I have to deal with it from here on out, and I'm ok. Im really ok. (I can hear those of you that know me saying "something is wrong with her!"). Again, I'm in no pain. I'm walking. Im driving. I'm living life normally.

The hard part for me has just been understanding God's purpose in all of this. None of this was in MY plan. Ok, so I did ask for rest, and I have been laid up for like 5 weeks, but thats not really the rest I was hoping for! The doctor's didnt clear me for school and I didn't get to share those last precious weeks with my roommates who will move out at the end of this month. I didn't get to come home and tan and hang out with my friends. I didn't get to excitedly prepare for Africa.
In helping me get some clarity, friends and family have said "Don't even worry! This is just Plan B.. plan A didn't work out, so now we'll move on to the next!" I kinda went on with that mantra without looking back. I had accepted Plan B. Plan B was resting, healing, and maybe (just maybe) getting to go to Africa.I was really at peace with whatever came out of this new plan. If I was to go to Africa, I would be thrilled! If not, I'd press on knowing that God had me here for a reason. Again, I was really ok.

As you probably know by now, I finally got the doctors blessing to go to Africa, and I'll be there as planned. But I never knew it'd look this way or take shape like it has. Last week, as I was assessing my confusion and frustration with all of this with the Lord, a wave of peace came over me and I got it (rather, he opened my eyes to FINALLY see it). This wasn't Plan B. Plan B wasn't foregoing school, or missing my friends, or being bored to tears in my house. That was my idea of Plan B. But to Him, it was all part of Plan A. He knew all of this, and it was all part of his original, and only, plan for me. He never started over, and His Plan A never failed. IT NEVER WILL. Thats a promise I was glad to relearn.

I am humbled by the thought that He chooses to use me at all.. whether its in Swaziland or in Prattville. I don't care. I just want to be used. My real hearts desire is to quit all my Plans, A-Z and surrender and submit to the same plan He mapped out for me before time. He is a FAITHFUL FATHER.
"In his heart a man plans his course, but it is the LORD that determines his steps" proverbs 16:9

thanks for being a part of all this. I cherish these friendships and I know for a second I don't deserve it.
to say im humbled is such an understatement.
Lee