Good

Whenever you go through difficult times you need to do two things to claim the "positivity" that is in those situations:

1. Think about/meditate on/read positive things
2. Be around positive people

A few weeks ago when we were at Oak Hills Church in "San Tan" (as I affectionately renamed San Antonio) they sang my favourite song, "Lord you are good" - its one of those happy clappy black church songs that gets your feet stomping and butt shaking in a way that is borderline inappropriate for church!!

So i got thinking about God's goodness, which was really hard to see following "Gladney-Gate", and decided to read a Bible verse everyday talking about God being good.

In Psalm 143 it talks about God's spirit being good, but that is not what struck me this morning.

"I remember the days of old;

I meditate on all Your works;

I muse on the work of your hand"

So I got thinking about my "days of old"...

• Teaching "Shakedown Dance" in a broken community where these beautiful but struggling kids would come and we would shake and body pop and I would talk about self-esteem and Father's love...and dancing IN TIME with the music...
• Time at Keele University spent talking with my friends...how I went to uni finding it hard to trust anyone, but especially girls, not believing I would really bond with girls and then leaving with more "sisters" that you could shake a stick at...and we frequently did in K2!!
• My prayer wall, where anyone at any time could give me a request and I would seek Father for them...and the amount of non-christian friends who used my service...
• Writing, journalling for hours and reading book after book...
• Being outdoors playing rounders, BBQ's...
• That desire in me to have a job where "everyday was something different", swearing i would "never be stuck in an office"...
• When Ruth told me on the second day of uni, that I was the first Christian she had ever met (besides some weird Jehovah's Witnesses) and the realisation that there was a purpose for my life and people that Father God would put in my path that I HAD to speak truth and love into...

And then I though about "all Your [God's] works"...

• Healing me from an unhealthy dependence on boys - helping me to see you as my Father...
• Kaream's birth uniting our family...
• Luke getting saved after a year of praying and hanging out and letting him crash at our apartment because his housematers were mentalists...
• Convo's with Yat, Roger, Fran, Nick, Ed...sometimes about ER...sometimes about needing to borrow the iron...sometimes about the love of God...
• Missions week on Keele Campus where people came for free lunch but left hearing your word...
• The amazing man Kaream is today...
• The softening of my mum's heart...
• Restoring my confidence in myself, in who you made me to be...
• The impact of Pais - lives being changed ETERNALLY...
• Bringing Steve & I together (after that ROUGH first year in different countries) and the heart we have together for the Kingdom and for families...

I could go on and on...there are so many...such a realisation that no time is ever as bad as you think it is...

So do I feel like I have a clearer picture of what the "next step" is for my life??

Nope. 

Do i wish I did??

Kinda.

But in the meantime Steve is getting lots of nice cooked dinners, the laundry is getting done quicker, I'm less grouchy and I'm exploring my creative side (stop asking - no cushion cover orders are being taken!!)

But am I secure in the fact that Father God has a clear path for me, and actually this tangled mess of craziness of life at the moment is the exact part of the path that I'm supposed to be on

To some it may look as if I am by the side of the road, disorientated, raggedy clothed, with my thumb out, desperate for a ride. 

But to Father I am driving in a car, with the top down; wind in my hair with no idea where the Sat Nav is taking me, but pretty content and enjoying the journey. 

This path is good. 

Faith

I had a humbling moment today.

Despite phoning up numerous times and asking supposedly all the right questions, things always go wrong.

When I arrived to check in Kaream after his 5-week stay with us in America, we were told that although he was given two free checked bags leaving Heathrow, he was only entitled to one free checked bag leaving DFW.

We waited 45 minutes to speak to a manager who basically said that a mistake had been made (by the check in agent at LHR, the agent at KIN who told us that bags on international flights were free, and the AA agent we spoke to on the phone the night before Kaream flew who all told us the same thing) and that we would have to pay – there was no other option.

I was already emotional at the thought of Kaream leaving…tears fell down my face in the gap while we waited to speak to the manager…as we walked away with the bag we hoped to check (weighing around 30lbs which Kaream had struggled even to get down the apartment stairs, let alone haul around the airport or even put in the overhead bin) my head raced through the worst case scenarios…“If they can’t even give consistent information on baggage, then how will they look after him?!”…“They lost his release form on the way here, these people are obviously incompetent, how can I be at peace with entrusting him to them?”

And then Kaream spoke to me:

“Seb, lets sing that song that we did at Pais Foundational Training”

And there in the middle of the airport we sang:

Our God is greater, Our God is stronger

God you are higher, than any other

Our God is healer, awesome in power

Our God, Our God

And if our God is with us

Then who could ever stop us?

And if our God is with us

Then what can stand against?

Yeah, I know what you’re thinking “I really hope Kaream’s voice better than yours Sebrina?”

‘Fraid not.

But we worshipped regardless.

When we got to the Boarding Gate, I went to do the final check in for Kaream and to let them know that he would need assistance placing his bag in the overhead locker as his suitcase was heavy.

The agent offered to to check the bag…for free.

Kaream turned to me and said:

“See – I told you God would work it out!”

I really struggle in my faith sometimes when times get hard.

Sometimes I feel as if everything is stacked against me and bad things that go wrong in my life only happen to me.

But everyone poops.

Thus crap is everywhere.

Life is constantly going to be throwing us curveballs and hardballs.

Life will often feel like that scene in Dodgeball when Patches O’Houlihan is throwing wrenches at the team to get them fit.

But good happens, because God has happened.

This is a promise I struggle with, but I have to hold on to.

“If God is for us, then who can be against us?”

So I cried at the gate watching my brother leave, knowing that I won’t see him until Christmas…

…and again at the currency exchange when although the sign said closing was 10pm, at 9:30 the woman had stopped serving…

…and again at the exit to the airport as 2 hrs 59 mins costs you $4 but 3 hrs 4 mins costs you $6…

…and again when I got back to my empty lonely apartment as my husband faithfully serves Pais…

…and again when I felt as if I had nothing to live for as I don’t have a job and I don’t know where Father is leading me…

But God is for me, He isn’t against me.

And I’m clinging to that promise at the moment. 

Adventure

There is never a dull moment in the Miller Household...
...And there is never a still moment when you are looking to follow Father God.

Our latest random journey takes us to...GHANA!!

In September 2008, Pais set up its first African nation in Accra, Ghana. The first team has three people, last year's team rose to ten; hopefully this years team will have more. The previous teams have seen incredible fruit, working in eight local schools, teaching hundreds weekly and bringing many into relationships with Father. They have also done outreaches, in partnership with the local church, into the nieighbouring poorer villages to bring supplies, medical aid and practically meet other needs.

The nation is led by Mawunyo Debrah, who was on Pais:USA 07/08 in Arlington at the same church as us. We both got to know her extremely well – she is a hardcore prayer warrior, often staying up through the night to pray for her teams, and is so faithful in all that she does. Though she has worked hard, the one area she has struggled in is long-term leadership to come alongside her. This upcoming year, everyone on the team will be new to Pais:Ghana, with only one person having done Pais previously (another familiar face – Carmen, who was on the team Steve led 08/09!). 

Previously, all of the Ghanaian missionaries had to travel to the UK to complete their Foundational Training. With such a large cost, this training excluded many of the apprentices from receiving the much needed training. This year, she has taken the bold step to provide the Foundational Training in Ghana, for her new teams. However, that is a large undertaking for her to complete by herself. 

Mawunyo’s need is simple – she needs help organizing and running Foundational Training.

With both of our experience on Pais, and with Steve’s specific expertise in running conferences and training apprentices, we both jumped at the opportunity to go out and practically help. 


Our need is simple - we need prayer and financial support. 


The rundown of our trip is as follows:

• Travel dates: September 3rd-September 15th, 2010 (yes, in less than a month's time!!)
• Trip cost: $4,300/£2,700 (this includes flight, visa, yellow fever vaccinations, malaria tablets, and a contingency fund - all food, transport, accommodation and activities are provided by Pais:Ghana)
• Role: Before - helping the planning of the conference (this has already begun)
• Role: During - delivering Pais training and supporting Mawunyo and the apprentices. 

We need to book our flights by Friday August 13th so that we can apply for our visas in time.

If you can help financially support us please contact us by email (sebrinamiller@gmail.com or stevemiller@paisproject.com) and let us know how much you are able to donate (so we can keep track of our current balance) and how you would like to pay (cash, US check, UK check, paypal or direct bank deposit for both our US & UK banks)

We know this is a very last-minute thing, but we really feel this is what God is calling us to do. For those of you who don’t know, Sebrina recently resigned from her role on Pais. She was offered a job with an adoption agency, but after three weeks of planning, visa issues meant that she was unable to take the role. This was extremely upsetting to us both, but we trusted that God was in control. Had the job gone ahead, we would not have both been able to do this trip, so we are seeing the blessing despite the storm. We are really excited for the impact that we can make on the teams and the blessing that we will be to Mawunyo. Please keep us and Pais:Ghana in our prayers.

Looking forward to hearing from you – please email us your thoughts and encouragements!!

Steve & Sebrina