I'm a Sparkly Jewel....I'm Just Sayin'

So the past couple days have been super crazy busy awesome!!!!  We are having an amazing time. The past two days, I have been part of a retreat that 9 women from our team hosted for the staff of aftercare homes, foundations or organizations that help in the transition from trafficking to freedom.  These women are my HEROES!!!! They are super super sweet kind and drained from constantly pouring out into the lives of these girls and it was such an honor to be able to encourage them and love on them.  We had some great sessions and I was so honored to be able to teach and share in a few of them.  We also just had fun playing games and laughing as sisters in Christ.  We introduced them to fun foods like brownies, fudge, Texas Trash, Pop Rocks and Ring Pops.  What could be more fun than that?!?

It was humbling to hear their stories and hug their necks and just say thank you.  At the end of the second day, one of the organizations presented each of us with a piece of jewelry that had been made by the girls who are trained and given their freedom through fair trade.  The gift is extremely precious to me but even more so was a story they shared.  They said that there is a precious jewel made from taking 9 different precious stones and making them into one beautiful jewel.  It is called "Navaratan".  They told us that we were that precious jewel to them for taking the time to come and pour back into them so that they could continue in God's strength to do the work they are called to do here in Kolkata everyday.  What an honor and a privilege to be a part of a team of precious jewels!  

Rachael and 9 other women are also pretty amazing and special, who have been serving in the slum village school for the last three days.  I prayer walked there today but I also got to see them being Jesus with skin on to the most adorable little ones.  It was a joy to watch my daughter laughing and singing with the kids, to see one of my best friends weep over the plight of those kids and for her heart breaking as she had given a little piece of herself to each one of them, to see women from all walks of life and background leave their families and jobs to come all the way around the world to love on people-WHAT AN HONOR!!!  To hear the hearts of the servants that have a vision to change the world for this village, that toil day in and day out, and to build friendships with people that I would never have met if I hadn't answered God's call on my heart. 

Pray for the safety of these children, there are so many acts of evil we have seen firsthand, and they need our prayers.  Pray for our team as we press on.  We love you all!

Welcome Back!

As many of ya'll know, my oldest daughter and I are back in India.  Today is our 2nd day on the ground and it was an amazing day.  The day started after Ra went to bed at 5:45pm, last night, and I followed at 7:15pm.  We both slept well and were excited to start the day.  I had an amazing devotional this morning on Psalm 10.  Some verses that stood out were:

vs 2: In arrogance the wicked relentlessly pursue the afflicted; let them be caught in the schemes they have devised
vs 4: In all his scheming, the wicked arrogantly thinks: "There is no accountability, since God does not exist."
vs 7-8: Cursing, deceit, and violence fill his mouth; trouble and malice are under his tongue. He waits in ambush near the villages; he kills the innocent in secret places. His eyes are on the lookout for the helpless; he lurks in secret like a lion in a thicket. He lurks in order to seize the afflicted; he seizes the afflicted and drags him in his net.

This is what so many of the ladies have to deal with and what they are facing.  They are "beaten down and oppressed" because of the evil man's strength.

vs11: He says to himself, "God has forgotten; He hides His face and will never see."
vs 12: Rise up, Lord God! Lift up Your hand.  Do not forget the afflicted.
vs 14b: The helpless entrusts himself to You; You are a helper of the fatherless.

This makes me think of all these precious ladies that I knew I would be seeing and getting to love on.  They are crying out or questioning what purpose their life has.

vs15-18: Break the arm of the wicked and evil person; call his wickedness into account until nothing remains of it. The Lord is King forever and ever ; the nations will perish from His land. Lord, you have heard the desire of the humble; You will strengthen their hearts. You will listen carefully, doing justice for the fatherless and the oppressed so that men of the earth may terrify them no more.

God told me today, that as Lord and King forever, He hears them, He will strengthen their hearts.  He listens carefully and does just for the fatherless and the oppressed so that men of the earth may terrify them no more.  How?  How does He do that?  The answer in general-However He chooses.  Today, for me, that answer was through our team and through me.

Today, God allowed me to enter a major red light district and love on precious ladies who are tasting and experiencing freedom for the first time.  While one could say,"you're just doing mani/pedis" or "you're just telling stories", "how does that help"- God told me today, that it's His proof He is hearing them, He is strengthening their hearts.  He is calming them so that they the men of the earth cannot terrify them.

Ra sang the Superchick song "Beauty from Pain" and it was so precious as a mom to see her loving on women that the world ignores as special and beautiful.  The world is wrong.  These women made today amazing as I got to laugh and sing and just enjoy being women with them.  I'm so proud of our team as they did an amazing job and are such encouragement.  I love hearing their stories and getting to know them on a whole new level.  I'm so thankful for Jason and the kids back home and my Mom who are holding things together there so I can be a part of this.  As you wake and read this, know that I'm praying for you and I'm thankful for you being a part of this journey by praying for us.

one kid a mom and a long plane ride

Dubai! Rachael and I are having a blast. So blessed to share this time with her and our amazing team!

The House Portion of the Trip is Complete

Today was a very bittersweet day! This morning I had to hug my favorite Kelley's goodbye! Today is also the day that all the DeKelSki's split up and go our own way. We had so much fun. We played cards, fed 12 children more food than I even want to remember, we laughed, we cried and we built memories that we will never forget with our family.

The house was in an ideal setting and I am so thankful that for the second time we found a great house for a great price and it was not misrepresented to us in any way. The kids were great, although, it was very obvious to Jason and I that our "little girls" are definitely closer to their way out than they are to being little! Jason really freaked me out when he pointed out that Rachael only had five summer vacations left until college! Aggghhhh! So thankful for the time she wasn't hiding from us in the basement with her girlfriends :-)

The sweet part of today was all the laughter and fun we had traveling through some of our favorite movies. For those of you that know Jason and I really well, you can attest to the fact that our entire family, even the kids, talk in movie lines. Napoleon Dynamite is one of our favorites. So today, we toured all the major haunts from the film in Preston, Idaho. We even got to go in the high school, even though they thought we were there to register Rachael at first :-) Again, freak me out! We laughed so hard as we recalled all the funny scenes as we toured the town.

We stopped randomly in Logan, Utah at a Chic-Fil-A. We were so excited to find a place with sweet tea, we could barely stand it. It was really funny, when the manager that had taken our order asked if we were traveling and where we were from. Turns out, he grew up in Katy, TX and worked for 9 years with many of Jason's students at the Mason Road location. He and his wife moved to Utah in May when they became proud owners of the Chic-Fil-A location where we ate today. When I asked, what made him ask where we were from, he told us that anytime somebody orders sweet tea as confidently as we did, he knows they are traveling from somewhere in the south! Amen, brother!

We then headed to Salt Lake City, Utah. It is pretty, all nestled in the side of the mountain. We went to Tabernacle Square, the State Capital, the Salt Lake and our favorite spot was East Salt Lake City High School where High School Musical was filmed. We were just excited to take pictures in the front of the school but then a janitor came out, invited us in and gave us the tour and then left us to roam the school and get as many pictures as we wanted. It was really fun. The funniest part is the fact that Sharpay's locker is still painted pink :-) Those made for some cute pictures.

We were able to come back to the hotel pretty early, have a great pizza party in our room, veg out and watch some tv and now the kids are heading to bed. Tomorrow is a long day to head into Denver. We're excited to see some snow up in the Rockies before heading back to the heat wave of the century!

Thanks for sharing our trip with us. Can't believe that we're almost done! Just four more days!

Ruth

Ruth "The Nerd"- Sup!? I am having a blast on vacation! I can't believe it's almost over. So far one of my favorite parts was for sure our trip to Jackson Hole. Although we didn't meet Harrison Ford, we think we saw his private jet taking off! ;). I absloutely loved Seven Brides for Seven Brothers! It was the best musical I have ever seen! It was absolutely amazing! I loved our seats! Lauren bought some of the songs on I-Tunes and now we are listening to them NON-STOP! I think today's song we have been singing the most is Sobbin' Women! The best song in the musical! Yesterday we went on this amazing float trip and we finally saw our moose! 3 of them! We saw a mommy and little baby moose! It was pretty amazing! We have been playing lots and lots of Minnesota Rumy (which is almost like Phase 10) with Indiana Jones playing cards. I absolutely love Idaho! It is so pretty out here! I am going to be very hot when we get back to Houston, considering the high to day is 80. I am looking foward to the Olympic Training Center! I am so excited to go and see where my favorite Olpymic athletes train! Excited to be home and see everybody, but until then
Pufi Out! *PEACE!*

What's Been Up

Hey friends! We have been having a fabulous time. The weather here is the highlight of our trip. Its is about 50 degrees right now compared to the 150 in Houston. Since we last posted, we have been to Jackson,WY. WE LOVED THE TETONS! We had the best bbq lunch ever at Bubba's. We had a Sloppy Bubba, which for those of you that are curious is bbq brisket mixed with bbq pork served on garlic toast. We crossed Jenny Lake by boat and were told that the water was only 56 degrees. We then hiked up to Hidden Falls and it was well worth it! Jena Grace got a little light-headed but otherwise all the kids did fabulous. We left the park and headed back into town for the GREATEST musical ever! Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. The cast owned it! They were super animated and really entertaining. The boys loved it when the fight scene was done in total slow motion, including one of the actors "falling" on Isaiah. Rachael loved it when Adam sang to her as if she was one of the girls in town who was a possible marriage prospect. We have been begging Jason to take us back the three hours to Jackson so we could see it again! Yesterday, we went to several places of entertainment. The St. Anthony Sand Dunes where Napoleon Dynamite's Grandma went on her date. We spent the whole day with just our family and it was really a fun special time for us. We also went to Harriman State Park, twice. We went once during the day and toured the Railroad Ranch, which was special since my Dad worked for the Harriman's and even had lunch with one of the founder's grandson. It was gorgeous and the tall evergreen trees made us ready for Christmas to arrive. We went back at dusk to hunt for moose. We found 5 beavers instead. We did get a fabulous picture of very fresh moose poop. But alas, the moose evaded us. Another highlight of the day was taking the kids for their ice cream award that they won a few days ago for finding all 50 license plates! Yeah! Today, was a fabulous day of card games, talking and eating great food here at this gorgeous house. Please pray for Jason as he has been in a lot of pain from his neck. Otherwise, we have been blessed with healthy and happy kids! We are going to go back to the park one more day but not sure which one. I also want to get up early and do a day a bird watching as there are some fabulous creatures here that I'd love to learn more about. The kids are loving spending time with their DeKelSki siblings. We only see them around meal times :-). Can't believe we just have a few more days at the house and then we head on to the final legs of our trip. Hope ya'll are enjoying the trip with us! Thanks for following along! Jana

Rachael's blog!

I am scared of rabbits to begin with. We saw one while Emily and I were running yesterday and it scared me to death. But not as much as the ghost stories we told each other last night! We did not meet Harrison Ford but I got quite a few pictures of his land that he owns in the Tetons.
We went and saw a 7 brides for 7 brothers play and it was amazing! I loved it! We got front row seats too which was awesome! We've been playing lots of Rumy and drinking lots and lots of water.
We have been having like and awesome time and the weather here is so nice. It is a little cold and rainy but it is really nice to sit out on our porch and look out at the lake. I saw the third Pirates of the Carribean:At World's End and it was horrible. I did not like it at all! Just like an F.Y.I.
We had party potatoes last night and Emily and I probally downed a whole pan ourselves and we had Hawaiian Haystacks for dinner and it was so good. Those are two of my favorite foods. Another F.Y.I.
Also I noticed that in Idaho my hair stays curled longer than in Houston. I like that it stayed curled like all day while in Houston it goes flat as soon as I walk outside
I have lots of good pictures although they do not capture how beautiful it really is here. I will post them on Facebook when we get home!
Good-Bye