Me And "My Boys"

Traveling with His Little Feet for the last two or so months has been quite an adventure :D
We travel around the US, going to different churches, raising orphan awareness, and by God's grace, making an impact for the Kingdom on lives both here in the US and around the globe.
Each church that we are hosted by provides us with "host families", these are families in the church that have opened up their homes to us for the time that we will be in their area (usual two or three nights). Usually it's two children and one staff member per host home. The two wonderful children that I had the privilege of staying with in the host homes this last leg of the tour were Eyob and Yohannes. Two brothers from Ethiopia.
These two have provided me with many good laughs, fun stories, hugs, and sweet memories.
Here is a small peek into our time together:

Yohannes and Eyob's first time seeing snow.

"Sharing the love"



Eyob learning about the US in a fun way :-)
Eyob intently working on...something.

Yohannes at the park.

Aw! Isn't he adorable?

Yohannes and Detcho playing a game at one of the host homes.

Eyob and Nahagi. (Nahagi and Detcho are also in the choir and are brothers as well)

To read a sweet story about me and my boys click here

Only The Beginning...

I think it was a cool morning in the Fall 2010. If I recall correctly, it was one of those mornings in Colorado when the air was colder than the water, which caused a sort of foggy mist to hang over the lake at Ellerslie, by which I was walking.

On this particular morning, out by the lake, I was talking to Jesus.
You see, in my heart a longing was stirring, or rather was continuing to stir, as it had been there a while, a longing that I didn't see being filled any time to soon.

There had been times in the past when this longing would begin to bubble up, but I was usually pretty successful in pushing it down and putting it in Jesus hands. However there were times when that was easier than others.

This was one of those times when the longing was bubbling up more forcefully than usual and needed some attending to. Hence this time out by the lake.

Shortly before the end of my basic semester at Ellerslie I had applied for an internship with His Little Feet. It seemed like such a good fit for me. I could see so many ways that it seemed the Lord had been preparing me for this position. A longing began to form in my heart.

After waiting, putting it in the Lords hands, and crying out for His joy, whether I got the position or not, on August 10th 2010 I found out that I didn't get it.

The Lord was faithful (as He always is! Deu 7:9, Isa 49:7, 1Tim 5:24, 2Tim 3:3, Rev 19:11) and He filled me with joy, even though I didn't get the position.

So after a little brake I went back to Ellerslie and started my, "Advanced Leadership Training". Oh what a blessing that time was! I grew so much in those weeks and months and learned many things that would have been harder (I think) to learn on the road with HLF.

God grew and stretched me through that time at Ellerslie and I truly enjoyed it, but every once in a while that familiar longing would bubble up in my heart. It was usually easier to quell when the HLF team was out on the road and not around (I lived in the same building with them and when they were around I saw and heard allot of them:D It was great! And hard.) However, they would occasionally come back to the Ellerslie campus for short brakes in between their tour travels. As was the case during the time of the above mentioned Fall morning.

So there I was, out by the lake, talking to Jesus about it.

What I said went something like this "Jesus, You know how much I want this. But, if it's going to take me away from You, I don't want to touch it!"

And I meant it. I did long to be a part of this ministry that is impacting children from different parts of the world, as well as churches and families right here in the US, but if being a part of this ministry was going to take me anywhere, but closer to Jesus, I didn't want any part of it.

I think sometimes when I just talk things out- bring them into the light instead of just shoving them down- I see things more clearly, and that's what seemed to be the case on this day.

That is a memorable day to me. It was a day when I sat my desire before the Lord and found that even though it was intense, it fell short to my desire and longing for more of Him. I found that no matter what the enemy had to say about it, Jesus truly was first in my heart and my desire in wanting to work with HLF was a desire for Him and not just me. It was a desire that He was growing (even though I may not have fully grasped that at the time).

It was months later (I had already graduated from Ellerslie and had spent the Summer at home) on August 25th 2011 that I got a phone call from Mike Hahn, President and Co-founder of His Little Feet.
What he said changed my life for the next 9-10 months... and forever.

It was something like this, "Kourtney, we would like to invite you to be a part of the His Little Feet team"...

After months of waiting, praying, trusting, my God had proven faithful once again! He had tilled the ground, prepared the soil and planted a desire in my heart like a little seed. Then He had poured water on it and out of the rich dark soil I had seen a little shoot. I had longed to enjoy it right away, but my Daddy told me to wait, be patient. During that time of waiting He continued to till, water, weed and prune and when the time was just right He allowed me to see the first small bloom. I am now getting to enjoy sharing the fragrance of that small blossom with Him, and I am so thankful that He made me wait! But, even as beautiful as this small blossom is, I know that this is only one step in the amazing adventure that this life with Jesus is. He has more in store and I have a feeling this is only the beginning...