Lift Up Your Eyes: Guest Post by Gail Goolsby

Gazing out of the window on my first airplane trip to Afghanistan in 2004, I’d thought the scenery depressing. The decades of war, the desperate need for heating fuel, the years of drought, and the desert climate all contributed to the missing trees and grass. It is all so drab, so lifeless. Where is the green in all this khaki? Yuck.

The dusty, colorless environment fit my overall mood those first few months after my arrival in 2005 to serve as the principal of the soon-to-open International School of Kabul (ISK). I missed my young adult, semi-launched children back in the States and all my friends and my comfortable Missouri home, complete with gardens, paved streets and sidewalks.

When the rain came, the billowing dust turned to sticky mud. The mess was worse than the dust, but the rains brought relief through cleaner air. I could actually see vibrant color on trees and plants when the showers removed the dusty camouflage. But only briefly, as the high desert sun dried the ground quickly and the dust always returned.

Ah, but out of the dust rose…the mountains.

Like Denver, Kabul has several mountain ranges encircling it. They aren’t tree-covered like the Appalachians or Ozarks, or mighty granite peaks like the Rockies, but they are majestic in their own way. Walking down the dusty ISK street, I would lift my eyes to see the sunny blue skies outlining the mountains on every side and feel momentarily pleased with my surroundings. Sunrise and sunset photos over the hills were popular postings by staff on social media and undeniably breathtaking. Many fit foreigners loved to hike the stark inclines of Kabul’s mountains.

Ugliness at Every Corner

The Kabul chaos bothered me far more than bombs and guns, which were real threats, but not my daily challenge. Living in an overcrowded, unorganized city was draining to a lifelong suburban dweller like me.

Contrast too few resources (water, heat, power, internet, roadways, housing and work for returning refugees) with too many taxis, bicycles, pedestrians, beggars, flocks of goats and sheep (with their droppings), and horse-drawn carts all vying for the same travel space. Traffic was crazy with few yellow lines or stoplights. Drivers went where they liked, even in the opposite lane, confronting the coming stream of vehicles until somebody gave way.

Add to that the disregard/disrespect for women which hit me personally and professionally as I dealt more with men than women (who had limited English) in maddening, sometimes scary moments. Groups of Afghan men appeared throughout the city and seemed to stare holes in foreign women in eerie, disconcerting ways.

One October morning that first year in Kabul, I heard my husband call to me as I got ready for work. “Gail, come see this.”

I stepped outside, noticed the white powder on our marble patio courtyard, and then looked up.

Wow. My mouth fell open.

God Shows Up

When I saw that first autumn snowfall on the many peaks surrounding Kabul, I was enraptured. The transformation from a dusty, bland city was powerful. The sparkling white frosting on the brown mountain tops made a picturesque contrast. As a December birthday girl, I have always loved snow and yearly hoped it would appear as a special gift on my day. Now, it served to lift my spirits even higher, to remind me again, that God was present and able to enter any bleakness in wonderfully personal ways.

Psalm 121:1-2 (NIV) says: I lift up my eyes to the mountains—where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.

When I purposely opened my eyes and looked carefully all around me, I could find delight, wonder, love, purpose and beauty in a seemingly desolate, vacant place.

What is hindering you from recognizing beauty and hope in your life right now?

*This article contains excerpts from my award-winning book Unveiled Truth: Lessons I Learned Leading the International School of Kabul. You can purchase a signed copy at: gailgoolsby.com/buy-book/ or online: books2read.com/gailgoolsby

 

 

Gail Goolsby holds master’s degrees in Professional Counseling and Educational Leadership. She has over 25 years educational experience as teacher, school counselor, and principal, including the K-12 American school in Afghanistan. Her award-winning book Unveiled Truth: Lessons I Learned Leading the International School of Kabul details the experience with challenging applications for all readers. As a counselor and ICF certified life coach, Gail believes there is support and encouragement in God’s Word to help us all learn to live well.

Gail and her pastor husband have been married 41 years and have three grown children, two sons-in-law, and four spunky granddaughters. They live where the wind blows over the prairie in south central Kansas and there really is no place like home.

Find her on her website: gailgoolsby.com  and social media: facebook.com/  Twitter

*Photo by Khalid Ahmadzai, used with permission.

*The next issue of Life Notes, my quarterly inspirational newsletter with a giveaway in every regularly scheduled issue, will come out in early August. Sign-up is FREE and to the right! (If you’re on a mobile device, scroll to the bottom of the screen and click View Full Site to find it.)

*For info about my book Mother of the Bride check out my Books/My Work page.

Ten Thousand Villages Gifts for the Bridesmaids

6220169247_b5597043c0_zMother of the Bride, is your daughter looking for a dynamite gift idea for her bridesmaids? Why not suggest gifts from Ten Thousand Villages? In case you’re not familiar with them, Ten Thousand Villages is a fair trade retailer who has been empowering and supporting fairly paid artisans in developing countries for almost seventy years.

A few weeks ago, I suggested that your daughter might like to create a Ten Thousand Villages Gift Registry and allow the wedding guests to be a double blessing—blessing the happy couple with a terrific gift plus supporting hard-working, fairly paid artisans around the world. Purchasing her bridesmaids gifts from Ten Thousand Villages will allow your sweet girl to be a double blessing as well. Can’t beat that, huh?

Among the items that Ten Thousand Villages carry are jewelry, scarves, hats, purses, and other bags—all excellent ideas for bridesmaids gifts. If there is not a store in your daughter’s area, assure her that she can shop for these gifts online. On their website , the pictures of the individual items are large, and she will have no trouble selecting some beautiful gifts directly from the site.

And MOB, as you browse the site, I bet you will find something you’d like to have, too. Go ahead—be a double blessing!

*You might also like to read A Fair Trade Wedding Registry: Ten Thousand Villages and Polka Dot Nails for the Bridesmaids!

*The next issue of Life Notes, my quarterly inspirational newsletter, comes out in early August. Sign up is free and to the right!

*Flickr photo by Thien V, Creative Commons License

Midweek Morsel: Praying for World Leaders

When praying for our leaders, sometimes we think only of our own nation. We need to expand our vision at times and pray for those leading nations around the world as well.

Many passages of scripture can be turned into prayers for national leaders, but imagine what our world would be like if the following prayer came true. Substitute leaders for kings and make this passage your hope and prayer today:

“May all the kings of the earth praise you, O LORD, when they hear the words of your mouth. May they sing of the ways of the LORD, for the glory of the LORD is great.” Psalm 138:4-5

*Which world leaders need our prayers in a special way right now? What are some other ways—or other scripture passages—we should pray for world leaders?

*Flickr photo by ToastyKen, Creative Commons License

Guest Blogger: Author Laura Popp

I’m happy to share an inspiring post today from author Laura Popp. Laura is a fellow member of my writers group, Fellowship of Christian Writers. May Laura’s story encourage you to answer God’s call on your life—whatever that may be today!

Earthshaking Opportunities

In the summer of 2009, God called me to be a missionary in Japan. I thought He was nuts, but knowing better than to argue, I packed my bags, and with nothing but a few contacts and a job teaching English, hopped on a plane.

Nearly two years later on March 11th, 2011, my whole world shook.Literally. But the tremors felt in Nabari, Japan were nothing compared to those 350 miles north as the largest earthquake in the recorded history of Asia struck the Tohoku area. Though I thanked God for my life, I bit my nails worrying about my friends suffering in Tokyo and Sendai. I wept as I watched events unfold on the news. The aftershocks continued, walls of water over thirty feet high sweeping away entire cities, fires raging, infants and elderly freezing without electricity, nuclear reactors overheating, and the death toll rising to 16,000.

“What can I do?” I prayed. “You sent me to these people. Teach me how to serve them!”

The next day I got a mass email from a Filipina Christian friend in Fukushima. “We have to get out. The nuclear reactor near my house is in melt down. I’m going back to the Philippines, but can anyone take in two Japanese sisters?”

“Yes!” I wrote back immediately. “Send them to me!”

Two days later, I met the sisters in Osaka. Their eyes told of unknown horrors, and fear and exhaustion weighed them down.

“What would you like to do?” I asked on Saturday, after they’d had a chance to rest.

“Take us somewhere beautiful,” the older sister Junko, an English teacher, replied.

I brought them to a plum blossom garden in a nearby town, the pink and white blossoms draping over the trees and terraces like delicate curtains.

At the entrance to the garden stood a small shrine, and the two sisters paused to pray.

“What did you pray for?” I asked when they finished.

“The safety of our families,” Junko replied.

Feeling moved by the Holy Spirit, I asked, “Do you believe there is a god in that shrine who hears you?”

Looking confused, as if she’d never thought about it before, Junko turned to her sister. They discussed it in Japanese for a few minutes, then Junko turned back to me.

“No, we just do it out of habit.”

“Well,” I offered with a smile, “would you like to meet a God who will hear your prayers?”

The two sisters discussed again, until Junko finally said, “We would.”

The next day I took them to church. There the sisters heard about God’s love for them and Japan, how God grieved for the death and destruction, and how He would rebuild Japan. They heard about the church’s plan to help and about the hope they could have in Jesus.

Tears filled my eyes as both sisters raised their hands, receiving that hope and love. Now I understand. Thank you, God, for bringing me to Japan.

Junko and her sister spent the next month in my apartment until they got government housing in Kyoto. I visited them there and we enjoyed a popular Kyoto pastime: dressing as maiko (apprentice geisha). I will never forget the day, my birthday, when Junko was baptized.

I challenge you that wherever you are and whatever you do, answer God’s call to love, to speak, and to serve. That is the greatest testimony you can give.

*In what ways have others showed God’s love to you through acts of service?

Laura Popp is the author of Treasure Traitor, a young adult fantasy novel. To learn more about her travels and book, check out her website: www.ljpopp.wordpress.com.

*The next issue of Life Notes, my quarterly inspirational newsletter, will come out in early February. Sign-up is free and to the right!

So Much to See, So Little Time!

Anyone else longing to travel? The older I get the more I realize how far behind I am in seeing the world. And now? There’s just so much to see and so little time!

Summer’s already teasing me. We haven’t been in the habit of taking a real trip every year—after all, life has a way of eating up vacation funds. But now that college and wedding expenses are behind us, vacations are more of a possibility.

Since the best time for my husband to travel is in July, we have a tendency to pick Colorado mountain destinations where we can escape the Kansas heat. But there are so many other places I long to see as well. Maybe after retirement? Sadly, Don tells me he wants to teach until he’s seventy! Good grief, doesn’t he realize I’ve got traveling to do? :)

Here in the good ole USA, I’d love to someday visit Washington, D.C.; New York City and Boston, along with other East coast historic areas; Alaska and Hawaii; Yellowstone National Park and the Grand Tetons; West coast cities and scenic destinations; historic areas in the deep South; Florida, Tennessee—I could go on and on. As you can tell, I want to see more of our country!

And if that’s not enough, I’d even like to get up the courage (and the money!) to brave international travel at some point. Like everyone else, I’d love to visit Rome, Paris, and London (and other points of interest in those cities’ respective countries), but other places intrigue me as well.

Since my family immigrated from Ireland and Scotland generations ago, those destinations hold a special appeal. (I’ve enjoyed getting a taste of Irish life over on Irish American Mom. I learn something new from Mairead [rhymes with parade] every time I visit.) Switzerland and Germany sound appealing, too, and visiting the Holy Land would be so meaningful—though travel there sounds a little more scary to me. I can be a chicken :) Given that fact, I’m not sure I’d be up to an African safari, but that also sounds amazing.

Like I said, so much to see, so little time. I realize I won’t see all of these places in my lifetime, but surely I can make it to some of them. And to be totally honest, traveling to and navigating around unfamiliar places does indeed make me a little nervous. You know, all those chances to get lost and/or make other mistakes :)

I don’t want to let my fears hold me back, though. If there’s one thing I’ve learned in over a half century of living, it’s that the Lord walks with me each step of the way. And even better than that, He goes before me and guides me if I’ll only look to Him.

So even though there’s so much to see and so little time, my heavenly Guide will help me make the best of it. How about you? Anyone else ready to travel?

“The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” Deuteronomy 31:8 NIV

*Is summer already teasing you? Where would you like to travel?

*The next issue of Life Notes, my quarterly inspirational newsletter, comes out the first week in May. Sign up is free and to the right!

*Flickr photo by Per Ola Wiberg ~ Powi