Laurie's Everyday Notions

Last month I shared a story from Noel Brewer Yeatts' book "Awake" about Evah, a girl who was captured by the LRA, was forced to carry weapons and was repeatedly raped by her captors. The story broke my heart. The stories that Noel shares in her book are continuing to break my heart. And then at church at last week we honored with the presence of a man who has made his life mission to serve girls and women who have suffered from war crimes. Women who have suffered greatly. As Dr. Mukwege spoke tears ran down my face. Although my heart ached I lifted up praise to God for equipping people such as Dr. Mukwege. People who are courageously raising their voices against the injustices found around the world. Denis Mukwege Interview from Autumn Ridge Church on Vimeo . "Our call is call to serve. Our call is a call to care for, to comfort, to restore women who have been hurt in their bodies and hurt in their hearts because of the atrocities of war crimes." T...

I am often humbled when my eyes are opened to the things in my life in which I take for granted. Sometimes it's easy to fall into the habit of grumbling at the work. I'm sure there's a few tired mama's out there that can relate. Dishes, laundry, cooking. The jobs are endless. Breadwinner, nurse, secretary, financial planner, teacher, kitchen manager, gardener......really this list could go on. How hard would each of these jobs be without having access to clean water? With easy access to clean water, water not only to hydrate our bodies but also to use in cooking and cleaning our bodies, washing our dishes, washing our laundry, it is hard to even comprehend how life would be without it. Noel puts it into perspective when she writes, "Did you flush your toilet today? Just once? You have already used more water than the average African has for an entire day --- for drinking, cooking, cleaning, bathing, washing....everything. Just one flush." (AWAKE, pg.94). One...

She was eleven when, while lying in bed, she heard the gunfire and screaming the screaming which filled the quiet in her village.  "Scary, shadowy figures violently stormed into her family’s hut”. ( Awake , pg.35) She watched the soldiers of the LRA murder her father and beat her mother before they turned their fury on her and ripped her from the family that she loved. She was forced to carry weapons. She was twelve when she became pregnant, a pregnancy which was a result of being raped by the soldiers. She gave birth to a child only to see that child murdered by the hands of her oppressors. She was alone. She lived in fear. She was only a child.  Her name is Evah.  She escaped from her oppressors captivity but will she ever be able to escape the nightmare of her memories? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This story is just one of many that Noel Brewer Yeatts shares in her book, Awake. Stories of children suffering fr...

Often I feel limited in the ways in which I can help meet the needs of children living in extreme poverty. Many times I've had to remind myself that, in this season of my life, I do have the opportunity to not only love and meet the needs of the child in my care but also to teach compassion and raise up world changers. This week I contemplated and prayed about how I can do more. I spent time clicking through the World Help website. I ordered boxes to fill for Christmas for an Orphan . I ordered a bundle of Gift of Hope catalogs to give to my daycare families and decided that this year, instead of Christmas gifts for me, I would ask for gifts of hope. As I searched the website I found many little things that I could do and I became excited. That excitement led to the realization that doing something small could have the potential of growing into something much bigger. “I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.”   ―...

Last Thursday was the the first day of kindergarten in the town in which I live. Although I don't have any of my own children that young, I do have four sweet girls that I've cared for at my daycare. Two of them I've had since they were babies so they are kind of like my own. As I viewed "first day of kindergarten" pictures posted on Facebook I teared up a bit. I reminisced about the past three to five years that I spent with these children and thought about how "my" babies were growing up and moving on to the next stage of their lives. I worried. Will the teacher notice when my quiet, shy little girl is frightened or needs to use the bathroom but is too scared to ask? Did any of "my" girls cry when their mamas left them at school? Are they scared? Are the other children being nice? I have similar worries for my own children although they are not so small. My son will be fourteen next week and my daughter just turned twenty-three. I worry whe...