Delicious Details from Inspired Board Meeting

From Romania to Board Meeting to Hospitality...

At our last wrap-up with the teens was the "take-away" from our mission trip, with Natalie sharing how trite it would be to "be more grateful", she challenged us to also BE different...

What would that look like?

for  these teen girls?

How could they change their high school for the better?

Smile

Don't worry about being embarrassed

or perceptions of others

just smile

What would I do to BE different?

how can I let this not affect me to the point of inaction

to change the lives of these sweet, children?

was it an hour?

and just an hour alone?

for me, not just an hour

what next

So, this quarterly board meeting  served to solidify the bigger mission. To approve the new mission statement, set in motion the fundraiser for the "bigger picture", including a new website, video and more. I will share it next blog. It is nice  short, succinct! 

We pray, seek God's direction, will and blessing. 

 Love to cook for some of my favorite people

 Sauteing the onions

Cooking the delicious tortilla soup

 Yes I sautéed the carrots too, to brown them. So Yummy.

 Above and below the fresh herbs in my new herb garden which I will share soon...it's dreamy and very french, complete with a lovely fountain in the middle of all the vegetable and herb beds. I think our June 23 Fundraiser might just be there!

 The roasted potatoes with salt, rosemary and olive oil, learned from my mom, of course!

 Yes, a Pinterest idea for minted fruit salad. I should have sliced the mint. (Pinterest-join me if you haven't already, button on side of blog) I used the leftovers in a pitcher of water, so today I am really drinking water because it is minty with a hint of berry!

 The leeks that I used for the soup were so pretty that I used the ends for garnish. I love my cheese platter made of concrete. 

 Of course these potatoes look gorgeous on MacKenzie Childs pottery! They were so delicious.

 So sometimes people think, too expensive...So just take 3 guesses at where I got this pitcher and how much it was? OK  1 2 3? Home Goods and $5.99! So there! I served the Olive Oil for the bread in this!  The plate underneath was from anthropologie and $12.

 Board of Directors, so far! Dr. Scott (my hubbie is Chairman, also on Church Elder Board, YMCA Board, and HOH Board), Marta B, Hollywood Producer (before kiddos) & Inspired Producer for all including upcoming video's, Tom L, god-father/mentor to hubbie and I, dear family friend and Chairman of Stamps Foundation, Elder and Kenny K, business pastor at our church! All are strong Christian people of character, who put God's revealing word as a daily requirement (although none of us are perfect-of course)! They have high standards, ethics and astout businessmen/women and are carrying out Inspired's mission "To inspired women and teenage girls to find, follow and celebrate God's will for their life"....

Be blessed!  Roxanne

Words are inadequate for this entry

Hello friends,

I have been thinking of what to say on this post since the day I posted the last post~2 weeks-ish.

We took my third trip to Romania (Scott's 17th doing dental work!! Hannah's 3rd, Justin's 2nd) for 2 weeks, accompanying a group of 10 from Oaks Christian High School. 

We went through Heart of Hope Ministries Intl. where we have been involved for about 16 years. Dr. Scott (my husband) is on the Board! The book Hannah and I wrote, Inspired Design, gives all the proceeds to HOH Ministries. $15,000 total so far. Debbie Marshall, president of HOH said last summer the camp would have been 3 weeks shorter without those funds. "Summer Camp" is where the orphaned children go for one week of "peace" and "good food" as the kids described it to us, on our orphanage visits below.

I am going to use a different format, to describe my thoughts because I haven't entirely finished processing the experience yet. So phrases are more appropriate as I really wanted to get this entry out, while timely.

 I would like all who have bought books to know how many lives have been changed from your donations. As well as enjoying the book (hopefully) you almost put one child through a week of summer camp (book is $40, camp for one is $50) and hearing about the only REAL HOPE they will ever hear about, perhaps in their whole lifetime.

So, here goes.

Heartwarming that we took this trip, no.

Heart breaking...looking into the eyes of precious children who have NO parents. Sweet, loving, beautiful children whose young lives are destined to be lived in an orphanage. No worldy hope.

Heart-breaking

Heart-wrenching

Heart-molding...how could we not?

 Our teens in Home of Hope (Residence that HOH owns and runs for girls after orphanage while in University or learning trade) putting together Easter bags for the orphanages, see in pictures below. Girls at Home of Hope are amazing examples of Triumph over circumstances, hard work and what food, shelter and the love of the house parents, Debbie and HOH supports do to show Christ's love pouring out on these girls. I loved their spirits and their tender hearts. I hope to do a blog entry of their fortitude. We had 3 university graduates last year. It was a proud moment for Debbie and Heart of Hope.

 Sweet teen listening to instruction...
Especially touched by the orphans, as she has 2 adopted brothers

 Optomotrist who fits hundreds of orphans with glasses, so they can see
My optometrist! All with donations from our community
Astounding how many villages and orphanages have children with these glasses, as we went around
perhaps never to see another optometrist in their childhood

 My 15 year old son playing with a boy who came up to the van and needed meaningful touch
starved for attention
for love
for a simple smile
tender, sweet, young,
no parents

Sweet Madeline, with another sweet child
in need of touch
smile
warm hug
just someone

 My precious daughter with 2 sweet girls
running up to the van
in need of touch
simple touch

 Just a hand to hold
feel
love

 The crafts we brought into the orphanage for an hour
an hour
only an hour

 More crafts
talking, more talking
in a language we don't understand
but they smile and 
talk 
and talk
we smile

 Precious compassion from Hannah
whose heart gets it
she can do this
just smile and touch
and love
for an hour
an hour
only an hour

 Sweet Galina, who at age 10 was adopted from Russia
this trip astounding
and profound
seeing what her life could have looked like
she who lived on the streets of Russia for 3 years
adopted by a lovely couple here
had tremendous insight
grateful heart
sad heart
doing crafts
showing love
for an hour

 Our cute teens painting the cabins for camp
The orphaned children described camp for us as "A place of peace"
so they cleaned, painted, and put beds together
I sewed new curtains

 In an older girls home, for orphans

 Standing in the background
me
hard to absorb
process
an hour here, an hour there
sweet, precious, tender hearts
in need of love, touch
and a simple smile

 In a pilot program, where instead of to an orphanage
kids in poverty come after school for the day
very encouraging
caring teachers
who give loving touch
hopeful
loving
encouraging
things in this program are looking up
from 18 years ago on my first trip here

 Sweet Maddie
loving on the little ones
touch
smile
for an hour

 My hero: My hubbie! Doing his 17th (ish) year of dentistry on the orphans for the entire week. These children might never see a dentist if it wasn't for Heart of Hope, or perhaps another organization. Perhaps not. 
Hope: a lovely girl from Home of Hope is studying dentistry and now volunteers. A hopeful sign. She is a ray of Hope. 

I had to leave some details out because these sweet children and young adults are real
details are their life story
making a difference?
little at a time
consistancy
18 years of service
helping?
what choice do we have?
it is why funds from Inspired Design go here, how could it not?
our gifts from God
meant to aid others
how could we not?
time
hug
human touch 
smile
love
what is love, if not in action
love is not a feeling or a belief
love is a verb not a noun

I John 3:15 

Dear children, let's not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions.

Romania

We are in Romania! In the next entry we will show you photographs of where the money has gone, if you have bought a book. For today wețll show you the journey up to arriving at ȚcampȚ (ok this is on a Romanian keyboard so it is doing some wacky things)

First picture is in Bran Castle, named after Vlad Dracule (Better known as Dracula or Vlad the Impaler). My daughter and her lifelong friend Maddie (whose mom is my dear playgroup friend, Camille) at the castle. OK, these girls love photographs!

The castle was small-sh, rustic and lovely, quite a constrast from the first palce we saw in Bucharest, the capital, which was called Țhe Peoplețs Palace (Rom.keyboard-ugh). You can see the photographs below esp. the chandalier. Built by dictator Ceuascscu in 7 years it is the second largest building in the world. The Pentagon is the biggest. Twenty Two floors underground alone. The dictator tore down entire cityblocks to build this palace. He was executed before he ever inhabited it. 40,000 homes were torn down to build it.

The chandlier had 7,000 light bulbs and is still the biggest in the world.

I will show you more photograps of the palace when I return to the states, the facts will fascinate you especially when you put it into context with the extreme poverty facing the country then.

Todaz we are at home of hope )not spelling its this computer), where we are putting together Easter bags for the villages. The teenagers are packing the bags up while I am going to speak to the graduates and current residents of Home of Hope girls home about valuing who God created them to be and not comparing zourselves to others. Apparentlz, according to Debbie, the director of Heart of Hope a universal issue with women!

I will be teaching them to make rolz pancakes, breakfast bread dish etc...

I hope to get to this computer again, while we were here. The teenage girls we have taken from Oaks Christian are amaying and working hard. Thez are cheerful and lovelz!

I am so excited to show you pictures of today and where your funds have gone if you have bought a book, as it is astounding!

Blessings to you and Happy Easter!

Roxanne

Happy Easter

Happy Easter!

We are off to serve....

Blessings to you!

Truths for Seniors, Cross before the Crown

Hello beloved,

Well...Inspired31.org just had their last gathering this year, and my last one with a high-school daughter. It was lovely and blessed. Our speaker, Toni Hembree, inspired the girls with her story! The girls just loved it!

I am knee-deep in the final touches for a speaking engagement this weekend, however I have had several requests for the scripture I spoke over the teenage girls at our Senior Send-off Inspired, so here you go. These are some truths I learned while walking through a hard journey that most of us women have walked through, at one point or another. It matters not so much what the details were however, what we learn and take away to make our lives more joyful is what matters. I'll share more excerpts, if you are interested, from my "Signature" message, which describes how I came to the place of writing the book & founding Inspired31.org.

~I am God’s beloved daughter. He has a clear plan for me. A unique plan, like no one else’s.

Ephesians 5:1

~I have an audience of one: God. I am no longer interested in other peoples thoughts of me or what I am doing.

Luke 16:13 No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money."

~Guard my heart, from it is the wellspring of life. I deliberately allow God to choose the people in my life.

Proverbs 4:23 Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.

~Get rid of the business of this world. I am not interested in being culturally relevant. Neither my children nor myself benefit from a ton of skills the world wants us to have spending all day in the car being busy, busy, busy. At the end/day what was Kingdom work?

~I have a specific Mission (I was called by HIM)

Jeremiah 1:9 & 17 ... I have put My words into your mouth...Get yourself ready stand up and say....

~I work for Him

Colossians 3:23 & 24...work with all your heart for Lord, Lord Christ you are serving.

~Knows the desires of my heart. Some of the biggest blessings have come out of the book and ministry. But not the ones you would think...

Psalm 37:4 Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you your heart's desires.

Time @ home to prepare: very necessary

Spend time with dear old friends

Ministry, travel & time with Hannah

I am including this because if you are walking a hard journey, I think it will encourage you:

(from the "Signature" message) Before I continue, however I need you to know something. God didn’t suddenly change my circumstances. In fact, he didn’t change it at all, not even slightly. My children are still excluded and my heart still breaks.

The difference was God had truly changed my heart. I no longer cared what people thought of my motives. I concentrated on my audience of one. God knows my heart. I will never please all of those around me, nor do I care. ........

Beautiful truths...more to follow!

Happy Monday! 

       With a senior daughter, my time is flying by this year. It has been filled with many blessings, although applying to colleges wasn't one of them. We're excitedly waiting to hear from some, although one of her top two she is already accepted! 

        There are some very exciting things in the works, including new products, for the "Inspired" ministries. We'll be soon be revealing. 

        I am doing a wonderful triad (3 person small group) and our first meeting put an exclamation point on things I have been learning the last 4 years as a co-author of Inspired Design & co-founder of Inspired31.org (WITH a teenage daughter)and an incredible group of mothers and teenaged girls. So many wise people have given advice as "Iron sharpens Iron".

        I thought I'd share the three most valuable ingredients to maturity, from our study: Vulnerability, Truth of God's Word, and Accountability.  So many of these concepts are in the text of the book. For now I will leave you with the verses are inspiring me now, and 3 pages of the book. I'm sharing a little more of the book via the web as we have a limited amount left and are creating some complimentary products at a much lower price, perhaps even a reprint in paperback, with a study addendum in the back...Just pondering and praying.

       1Corinthians 4:16 "Imitate Me"

        Luke 9:10 Jesus knew his disciples needed refreshment & refreshment following their ministry...

        Mark 3:14 He kept twelve men who would "be with him". Friends & partners working towards the same goal.

         If you need inspiration, go to my Pinterest Boards....there are beautiful quotes, scriptures, pictures of tabletop & inexpensive ways to quote, and bless others....