A Mommy Brag Moment!

This blog is simply a moment for me to brag on my 7 year old, Austin! We are in our second week of school and I'm pleased to say Austin is doing great. He breezed right through last week and was SO, SO, SO excited yesterday when I picked him up. When he was waiting for me at cone #2 I could just tell he was excited about something. He was glowing. He literally jumped in the car and announced "I've made the Tiger Patrol"! Oh how we've talked about this day for TWO years! Ever since he started kindergarten he's talked about being a Tiger Patrol... Tiger Patrol is something that 2nd graders have the opportunity to participate in for good behavior. This is a position that you must earn by having good behavior and be selected for by the classroom teacher. Tiger Patrol students must arrive at school and be ready for duty by 7:30am every morning for a whole month. At the end of the month new students are selected based on behavior and teacher recommendations. Austin went to bed about 15 minutes early last night so he would be prepared to carry out his duty as the first grade hall monitor! He was up at 6:15am and asked if he could start getting ready for schools! I walked in with him so I could get a picture of him in his tiger patrol vest...which embarrassed him just a little. :) Jeremy and I just couldn't be prouder!

Austin's first day of Tiger Patrol duty!

Another accomplishment Austin has achieved is all 3 of his stripes on his white belt in Tae Kwon Do. Last Friday he earned his final stripe on his white belt and is now ready to test for his yellow belt! He'll be refining his skills and getting ready to test very soon. We are so proud of him and how well he is doing, but more than that we are proud of how hard he works as a student to do well in anything he does. I know God has an awesome plan for Austin and I am so thrilled to be a part of his life. :)

Way to go Austin!

We are so proud of you!

Nothing sweeter than a praying friend!

It was a year ago that I received a text message from a friend asking me how she could pray for me that day. I can remember receiving that text as if it were yesterday. I thought "really, did she just ask me that" and "maybe she sent this to the wrong person". I have to admit I thought it was a little strange and then wondered how in the world to respond. I had never had a friend ask me how they could pray for me before. Not and really mean it. Sure, I've had people say "I'll be praying for you" and I believe those people did pray for me but I had never had a friend seriously ask me how they could pray for me, for my struggles, for my life. Why was this so weird?

I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them....This is good and pleases God our Savior, who wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth.

1 Timothy 2:1 & 3-4

Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere. 

Ephesians 6:18

I believe this seemed so strange to me because I wasn't praying like I was supposed to... I was praying for the things "I" wanted and the things that would make "ME" happy. My prayer sounded something like this "God, please fix all the problems in my life; make the difficult relationships easy; give me the best job; bless us with the things we desire; help us to make a lot of fun friends and so on..." Get the picture? After my friend texted me that day I looked to Scripture to see how the Bible tells us to pray and I found the verses above in 1 Timothy and in Ephesians. I also found the verses that told me how to pray (see below) and my prayer life over the last year has completely turned around. And a few days ago, I reciprocated to a few of my friends the offer to pray for them and for their needs. If you've never asked your friends how you can pray for them, I would encourage you to do that... It's truly a humbling experience to see what their needs are. Honestly, it made me much more grateful for the things and blessings I do have.

Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples. Jesus said, "This is how you should pray." "Father, may your name be kept holy. May your Kingdom come soon. Give us each day the food we need, and forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us. And don't let us yield to temptation." ...."And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And everyone who knocks, the door will be opened."

Luke 11:1-10

...Pray for those who hurt you.

Luke 6:28

Are any of you suffering hardships? You should pray...

James 5:13

There are many, MANY more verses on prayer found in Scripture, but these are a few of my favorites! I'm not saying I've mastered prayer (because I'm far from it) but my prayer has changed so much. Today I'm praying for my friends and their requests, for their kids that have gone off to college, for the house that is quiet without them there, for my friends who have moved and are longing for friendships, for my friends to grow closer to God, for those that need jobs, for those that are struggling with raising their children, and many more. It has made my needs seem much smaller in the grand scheme of things and I count it a true honor to pray for others! 

The stock outlook on teeth is turning around!

Well, Austin finally lost one of his front two teeth! It's been loose for a while now and finally fell out just after we met his new second grade teacher last night. Austin was discussing how much he thought his tooth would be worth when Jeremy interjected and said "teeth values are down, the stock market dropped over 400 points today"! Of course Austin didn't understand the joke as much as Jeremy and I did, but it was funny! 

Austin's last picture with his two front "baby" teeth!

Missing one front tooth!

I'm happy to say that the tooth-fairy must have expected the stock market to rise today because she was good to Austin. He got a whole $2 dollars for that front tooth. :) Since I'm blogging about Austin today, I want to brag on him for a second... He has grown about a foot tall this summer and is wearing a size FOUR shoe! Not only has he grown physically, but he's becoming a wonderful young man who loves God with his whole heart. He's matured so so much over the last few weeks and Jeremy and I are so excited to see how he grows this year in second grade. Austin, we love you!

How are you handling all this heat?

It's August 18 and we've had record high temperatures for over 50 days straight now. I think we are getting close to the second hottest summer EVER... I don't know about you but I'm SO ready for winter. Well, maybe I'm not ready for winter, but some cooler temperatures anyway! All this heat has gotten me thinking...

How are we really handling this heat? Spiritually speaking, how are you handling the heat and drought conditions?

Blessed are those who trust in the Lord and

have made the Lord their hope and confidence.

They are like trees planted along a riverbank

with roots that reach deep into the water.

Such trees are not bothered by the heat

or worried by long months of drought.

Their leaves stay green, and they never stop producing fruit!

Jeremiah 17:7-8

Did you read the verses above? Wow... While all these days of over 100 temperatures are surely sucking energy from me, what kinds of heat and drought are really getting to you? For me, it's the months of unsuccessful job searching, difficult relationships, the battle of time, the difficulty of raising children, the frustration of SICK children... Thankfully as of 8:00am we have been throw-up free in our house for 17 full hours! Anyway, while the land we live in is currently experiencing a drought, our spiritual lives should not be. For me, these verses redirected me in where my trust, hope, and confidence should be. My prayer today is that I will put my full trust in the Lord and give him all of my problems so that I may not be bothered by the heat or worried by the drought, but continue to grow "green" in Him!

2nd grade here we come!

In the Morgan household, we are gearing up for the beginning of the 2011-2012 school year. We know who Austin's 2nd grade teacher will be, we have all of our school supplies bought and ready to go, and a deposit has been made into the lunch account! Sounds like we are pretty prepared, right? Well, actually...I haven't felt all that prepared. Austin is growing up too fast. It was just yesterday he was starting pre-k and overnight he's become a second grader. Each year as the school year begins, while Austin is excited about seeing friends and learning new things, I try to convince myself that school is a good thing! I'd much rather keep him at home, wrapped in a bubble so that I know he's safe. Can any of you relate to that?! I worry about how the "bad kids" will influence him or that there will be a bully in his class that is mean to him. I worry that he won't have the best teacher or that he will misbehave in class. I pretty much worry about every aspect of sending my child into the scary world out there...and yes, I think even elementary school is part of this big scary world!

Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from Him. 

Psalm 127:3

Something I've learned over the last two years that has helped me this time is this: Austin is only on loan to Jeremy and I and while we are responsible for his needs here on Earth, he really belongs to God. Instead of trying to be in control of every potential situation, I pray in advance for Austin's teacher and every aspect of the school year. Rather than worrying about those "bad influences", I pray that Austin will be strong in his faith and will be a witness to his classmates and friends. Instead of worrying about him misbehaving, we try to teach Austin right from wrong and see school as a way to practice what he's learned.

I will put my trust in Him, that is, I and the children God has given me.

Hebrews 2:13

So in a sense, we are ready for the 2011-2012 school year to begin! We are going to enjoy the last week of sleeping in and not having homework, for next week will bring on both routines and homework and hopefully NOT parent-teacher conferences!! 

A Zambia Thank You!

Dear Family & Friends,
I am excited to write and share with you a little of what God did in Zambia this summer! First, I want to thank you so much for your faithfulness to the Father in giving unselfishly and for your prayers. It was a privilege to go to Zambia and I would not have been able to do so without your prayers and financial support. God is so faithful!


During our first week in Zambia, we taught discipleship essentials to 15 young adults. Our goal in teaching this group was to equip them with the tools they need, along with some encouragement, to begin leading small group bible studies and witnessing in the townships and bush. This group of men and women were amazing and through email we know that several small groups have been started since we left Zambia!


After the discipleship training was completed, together we all went to the bush to minister to the people there. We split up into groups and went door to door witnessing and inviting people to come see the Jesus film. Many people came to see the film that evening. There were so many men, women, and children that came that we could not count them all. That evening, about 50 people accepted Christ as their personal savior!

The next week we taught a new believers class at the Chande Orphanage. We had about 60 children, from grades 7-9, that participated in the new believer’s class. We taught some basic principles every new Christian should know and how to build their relationship with Christ. While we were teaching these classes, many children became curious why we were there and that opened the door for us to share the gospel with them. Just from interacting with the children at the orphanage, 15 children accepted Christ that week! On our last day in Zambia, we had the privilege of baptizing 42 precious children!! Because of the generous donations our team members received, we were able to take 100 Bibles to the children there. Their faces lit up when they each saw their names written in the Bibles!


While we were only in Zambia for 10 days, I experienced some wonderful things and saw many things that broke my heart. I met some of the most amazing people! The term “brothers and sisters in Christ” means so much more to me than it ever has before. The people of Zambia are so hungry for Christ. Pictures of the poverty these people experience do not do justice. Above all the poverty they face, they put their full faith in Jesus Christ. The people there are very relational and always have the time to stop and talk, something we are not so great at here in America. They don’t have all the distractions we seem to have here in the U.S. Since I returned home, our family has been trying to simplify our life so that we will have the time to stop and enjoy each other and our friendships more!


There are so many stories and things I’d like to share but there isn’t enough space in this letter! I will blog about experiences and put up pictures over the next few months and I’d love for you to check it out. My blog site is http://www.nacolemorgan.blogspot.com/

Again, I want to thank you for serving with me in Zambia! It was such a privilege and an honor to see first hand all of the amazing things God is doing in Kitwe, Zambia. To see a video with many pictures of our trip go to www.youtube.com and search jnacmorgan. There you will see the Zambia 2011 video!


For the Kingdom,

Nacole Morgan
nacolemorgan@gmail.com