sweet conversation this afternoon

Me: you know, i'm moving to Africa right?
three year old Meredyth: wowwww.
Me: do you know where Africa is?
Meredyth: far, farrrr away...
Me: do you know what i'm going to do there?
Meredyth: be like tarzan?
Me: bahahahahahahahahHAAAA! (insert myself almost rolling on the floor) no, haha. i'm going to go and tell other little boys and girls about Jesus.
Meredyth: Jesus loves me.
Me: yes, He does. And i'm going to go and tell other little kids that.
Meredyth: me too!
i love you, Meredyth!

Koutiala Mali Visit 2009

the 500th post!!

So, it's the time of my blog where I tell my readers just how awesome this is to have a 500th post. I have made so many lifelong friends who I never would've known except for this wonderful world of blogging. I am so happy to know each and every one of you, and I count it as a privelege to call you guys friends.
God has changed my life in these 500 posts - drastically! Just go back and read my first post ever and you can see just how much my life has changed since May 2009. I was aware of change, but boy, if I could've only know how much my life would've changed I'm not sure I would've believed it :) There had always been within me this passion to be a missionary, but if I'd have known that in less than a year (of my first post) I would have told God yes to His will, which meant going overseas for a year to a country I barely knew existed, and to a continent that I had said no to so many times. Oh gosh, what a blessing it is to have this blog to see where God has brought me from. He has awakened a true love between Him and I, changed my heart about a people, and given me a boldness I never thought possible. I am so blessed - so, sooo blessed. I never knew a love like this existed, but He showed me just how He is in love with me, and how He wants more than anything for that love to mean life to me. Literally life. Like I know what it is now to live, to live for Him and no other! :)
Thank you so much - to each and every one of you - for praying with me and for me in these past 500 posts. They have truly touched my life in more ways than you could ever know. You guys have been the friends when I thought I had no one to turn to. When I couldn't exactly tell my family what was going on, or how i felt, you guys have stepped in as my family, and I am forever grateful for that. I have more moms than I ever thought possible, and more sisters than I could've ever wished for. When i began this blog in May 2009, I could've never seen just how much it would have been a part of my life. It makes me tear up just thinking about how different my life would've been had I not began this blog. Thank you so, sooo much my moms and sisters. Your comments over the months have changed my life. You have celebrated with me, mourned with, worshipped at the feet of Jesus with me, prayed fervently at His feet with me, and seen miracles right alongside me :) I truly love each and every one of you. and thank You, and you guys. I can't wait to see what comes next...

Natali

oh wowwww.

tonight was so awesomeeee. it was GLOW on ecu campus. what was awesome was the student’s testimonies, the coming together and worshipping God at playboy’s number 5 party school in the US. to experience God on this ground and know that there is a lost and broken world all around you, but He is here even in the midst of it. ohmygosh, just awesome. God is awesome. and i can’t wait for tomorrow night at vcm.

oh! and let me not forget - i have 5 new sisters and brothers in Christ after tonight :)

you have to read this.

this is a post by one of the missionaries that i'm going to be under while in Mali in just three short months. this post is awesome. it opened my eyes to Bamako and just how much i am looking forward to not only living in Africa, but also that this is going to be so eye-opening. i desire to know You like never before, and i know this is just the beginning. i want to be after Your heart like David was. i believe i've made the first baby steps, but there's a world of change to go, especially in my prayer life. let me just be honest, i feel like such a failure some days and then others i feel as though i'm pretty good. but there's none like You. You are sooo holy and good. Me leaving my comfort zone for the zone You want me in is without a doubt very challenging, but i know obedience to You is going to be so worth it.

wowwwww.

88 days or so and i'll be living in africa. can you say, "WHAAAAA".

oh yesss.

i so just made a tube top dress that i found in Ross into a skirt. yessss. and without a sewing machine. that's what's up :D

okay, it’s 2am. enough of this Satan, i’m going to bed and i’m sleeping because i know He will be with me everywhere i go. You have no hold on my life. He is right here with me, and as much as you want to make it seem like i’ll be alone, i won’t. so there. eat that. oh, and don’t forget, God gave me skype. what then

hosea 2

14 "Therefore I am now going to allure her;
I will lead her into the desert
and speak tenderly to her.

15 There I will give her back her vineyards,
and will make the Valley of Achor [a] a door of hope.
There she will sing [b] as in the days of her youth,
as in the day she came up out of Egypt.

16 "In that day," declares the LORD,
"you will call me 'my husband';
you will no longer call me 'my master. [c] '

17 I will remove the names of the Baals from her lips;
no longer will their names be invoked.

18 In that day I will make a covenant for them
with the beasts of the field and the birds of the air
and the creatures that move along the ground.
Bow and sword and battle
I will abolish from the land,
so that all may lie down in safety.

19 I will betroth you to me forever;
I will betroth you in [d] righteousness and justice,
in [e] love and compassion.

20 I will betroth you in faithfulness,
and you will acknowledge the LORD.

21 "In that day I will respond,"
declares the LORD—
"I will respond to the skies,
and they will respond to the earth;

22 and the earth will respond to the grain,
the new wine and oil,
and they will respond to Jezreel. [f]

23 I will plant her for myself in the land;
I will show my love to the one I called 'Not my loved one. [g] '
I will say to those called 'Not my people, [h] ' 'You are my people';
and they will say, 'You are my God.' "

if that didn't plant a seed of hope in me... wow.

i am sooo glad i'm following You.

bamako, mali.

1 Keep me safe, O God,
for in you I take refuge.
2 I said to the LORD, "You are my Lord;
apart from you I have no good thing."

3 As for the saints who are in the land,
they are the glorious ones in whom is all my delight. [b]

4 The sorrows of those will increase
who run after other gods.
I will not pour out their libations of blood
or take up their names on my lips.

5 LORD, you have assigned me my portion and my cup;
you have made my lot secure.

6 The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
surely I have a delightful inheritance.

7 I will praise the LORD, who counsels me;
even at night my heart instructs me.

8 I have set the LORD always before me.
Because he is at my right hand,
I will not be shaken.

9 Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
my body also will rest secure,

10 because you will not abandon me to the grave, [c]
nor will you let your Holy One [d] see decay.

11 You have made [e] known to me the path of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence,
with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

Psalm 16

there some little guys that you should know about.

God has placed these boys on my heart so much. i can barely believe this is happening right now.

so, the long awaited paypalish sort of thing & my support letter.

“Where You are, I want to be. It’s Your love that has changed me.
I give my whole life to honor You. In Whom I live, in Whom I move.” – Brooke Fraser

Dear Family & Friends,
As I graduate from East Carolina University this December, I’m packing my bags and moving to the continent of Africa in pursuit of the Call to missions that God has placed on my life. Ever since I was a little girl I’ve had a passion within me to be a missionary, and so here I go. I’m finally putting that God-given passion into action and going where He has told me to go.

A team of Assemblies of God missionaries, Glen and Karen Smith, has invited a select number of young adults to go live amongst the Muslims of Mali, the world’s fourth poorest country. Their ministry is called “SaFE” (Sahel Formation Experience) and it seeks to disciple workers for the unreached peoples of the world. You can find more information at their website: http://www.sahelnomads.com/. I’m ready to get my hands dirty in the harvest – so, so ready. There are twelve million Malians who need to know the love and grace He has for them. And I’m saying, “Here I am, Lord. Send me,” just as Isaiah cried out to God in Isaiah 6:8. From mid January 2011 to January 2012, I will be living in the country of Mali, West Africa, specifically the city of Bamako – the capital. While in Mali, my role will be to participate in hands-on ministry (children, youth, community outreach, etc.), agree to be personally mentored by a missionary, to learn a new culture along with its language, and to join a group of those who desire to share the Good News of Jesus Christ.

More than anything, I want these precious people in Mali to know Him. To know His love, His grace, His arms that are waiting for them to run to. I desire to be used by Him all my life to see His kingdom come. I want to give Malian kids an inheritance their parents may never leave them, an eternal inheritance that nothing could ever take from them. I want to love on these people and sit and listen to the stories of who they are, and tell them how He loves them so.

My living conditions will be basic as I seek to draw closer to the needy that God leads my way. There are, of course, financial needs that must be met in order for me to go to Mali. As a SaFE team member, I need to raise $900 in monthly support (for an approximate annual total of $10,800), and $2,600 in cash for insurance and airfare. The Assemblies of God World Missions has set up an account for tax-deductible contributions to be made towards my time with SaFE. All I’m asking is that you be willing to pray and see if God has plans for you to help in this mission. I truly desire to see and believe that God is going to change lives, not only the Malians who need to know of His love, but mine as well. Should God lead you to support me financially, there are enclosed details after this letter.

I just want to thank you for taking the time to consider this opportunity of helping with this mission and my future. I could never say thank you enough for my appreciation of your prayers. May God bless and pour His grace into your life as you listen to His voice.
Ne tarra (“I am going” in the Malian language Bambara),
Natali Williams

You can make cash/check donations to:
Assemblies of God World Missions
1445 Boonville Ave
Springfield, MO 65802

** If you’re sending something through the mail to the Assemblies of God World Missions you will need to make sure to write my name and account number (648393-7) in the memo section of the check, so they can deposit it into my account there. Afterwards, headquarters will issue a receipt for charitable giving credit, and you can tear a portion off to send with any future contributions (if you were to feel lead to support me monthly).

Online donations: click on https://secure1.ag.org/contributions/index.cfm then type my last name (Williams) or my account number (648393-7). This will take you to a listing where you can select my name and make a secure online contribution with your credit card/debit card. A receipt will be sent to you.

Also, if you would like to receive a monthly newsletter of what God is doing while I’m in Mali for free of charge, please include your email in a comment below, or email me at: natali.williams@ma.agmd.org.
My phone #: 252-325-1932.
I look forward to hearing from you and God bless!

"Look at the nations and watch--and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told.” – Habakkuk 1:5


I cannot say thank you enough for praying about this and letting God lead you. I love you guys!

today is a lot better than last week, by a bunch.

okay, so i’ve had a lot on my mind lately. and naturally, lots of things on your mind can weigh you down. i had this feeling that crept up last week, except if you’d asked me what was wrong i probably wouldn’t be able to explain it, because i honestly didn’t really understand it myself. but now i know. i kinda knew it at the end of last week too, but it was harder to accept than it is today. the topic: my “normal” may never be my “normal” again, in fact, i’m sure it won’t. but God will give me a knew normal, and it will be good.

a very sweet friend of mine wrote a blog post a few days ago, preceded by this one earlier in the week - including this same thing of her old ”normal” never being the same again after she moves to TN to pursue missions. and it hit me hard. okay, ellie, please don’t freak out :) you didn’t cause me to have a bad week, those words just hit home for me when i read them on your blog. i think i subconsciously knew this, but never really thought about it. and from there my weekend turned into a oh-my-goodness-i’m-going-to-miss-this-comfortable-predictable-life-next-year. or ellie, if you want to look at it like this, your writing that caused me to get an inch closer to Jesus. :) so either way you look at it, all’s good.

i realized i still had a bunch of stuff that i hadn’t truly surrendered to Him. like my normal not being my normal anymore. that i wouldn’t know everyone that passed by me. more importantly, that i would miss everything that happened. and that hurt. i’m not going to say i’m completely over it, because i think daily a person has to surrender their will for His and do as He says. but i do believe somehow, someway i’m becoming a little more accustomed to the fact that there is a new normal for me out there, and He has it planned for my good. and maybe, just maybe, getting me away from all that is comfortable in my life is so that i can fully rely on Him for everything. i won’t have that comfortable chair at my parent’s house, or even my favorite glass to drink out of (believe it or not, things like that were freaking me out big time), but i’ll have Him and new apartment, and the new people. who knows, i may even find my favorite cup ever in bamako. or better yet, this will be the defining time of knowing He has all the little germs on stuff under control, and even if something looks weird, it might actually taste pretty good. so maybe this new normal thing isn’t so bad after all.

God calls us to live out of our comfort zone for Him, and i’m truly finding what that entails with this journey. some of it is awesome, some of it is not so awesome, but through it all, i’m finding He is right there with me, holding my hand, and whispering His sweet promises in my ear. it is through the strength He gives me that i continue taking every step forward.

this is a gift from a little girl named lauren.

this little dress with that perfect print is soo going to you, little malian one. i don’t know your name yet, but the Belch family sure did want you and other little malian girls to have some very pretty things. oh, and there are shoes too! and i’ll make sure, lauren, to tell the little girl that wears your dress who gave it to her. gosh, this family is too sweet.

in Your presence is fullness of joy.

this past week has been a mix of stuff, but oh, in His presence is fullness of joy :) fundraising news: approximately another $1400 is headed for the mali account. how awesome is GOD? this is like around $3400 in just a week. how awesome is He?! GOD is sooo showing up :))

pray for mali button.

i've put off asking this of my readers because it felt selfish to me, but i'm seeing it in a different light now. so, my friend, stephanie frey, made a button for my blog,

and i humbly ask if you would share it with others. add it to your side bar, write a post about it, anything you would like. advocate for mali, please. more than anything, mali, west africa needs prayer. prayer from those who truly mean it. prayer that means business against the bondage they are in. so, please, could you share this button for mali?

just one of the many aspects of next year that i long for...

my heart longs to be there today. to hold hands with the impoverished children, pick them up and never have to stop hugging them. to kiss them on their foreheads and tell them i ce kanyi. you’re beautiful. fearfully and wonderfully made by Him. He loves you. and so do i. and then there’s the fact that i’m going to get know some of you little ones. no longer will it just be a face, but there will be a name and a living, breathing human being in my arms. but i want that to happen. i want it to finally be real. i want to advocate for you. you, and your precious little self. even though i don’t know you, little ones, i’m praying for you.

to say that this family is beautiful is an understatement. gosh, katie davis, you’re one of my very few living heros. God bless you and your 14 daughters. praying for sweet scovia and dear precious jane. He is still the Healer. http://kissesfromkatie.blogspot.com/

if you want to get a sense and feel of bamako, mali - the capital city where i will be living next year - please read this post (it's by the missionaries i will be working under). it'll probably break your heart, just like it did mine, but it also made me even more happier for the day when bamako finds the kanuya of Yesu. the love of Jesus is more than enough...

i think tears make a person feel better. and give a little relief. i feel so silly crying over that, but sometimes it just hits me, and i realize just how far i will be. but i trust You. and i can skype you. :)

Hillsong - The father's heart (Beautiful exchange)

that class was awesome.

once again, my very sweet west african professor brought mali into the classroom when she didn’t have to (the topic on the syllabus was haitian women in NYC). we talked about timbuktu today and how it is a real place. lol. that was hilarious to see myself in the other students (looking back a while). “it’s a real place!”

we watched a clip that explained the customs of the touagreg men being veiled and the women unveiled, and how the women are the heads of the households in this culture. and then it happened, my professor explained how i am moving to mali next year. didn’t expect that. the funny thing is, she still insists that i’m going to bamako to study at the university, even though i’ve explained that it’s more of a humanitarian aid work sort of thing that i will be doing (being careful not to turn her off because of her faith). she even offered to call a friend that works at the university and set me up. honestly, this woman is so kind. and she’s of the faith that is so plastered these days of being soooo hurtful and anything but loving. perhaps she’s a person just like me, but is bound in chains. gosh, i could do a sermon.

i should’ve gone to senegal this past summer when she passed out the study abroad packets in class last spring, but oh well. we talked about bambara, & i loved hearing her pronunciation of it. it was like music to my ears. earlier in class the professor explained that her grandmother never lost any of her teeth before she died (in her 80s) and how in the wolof culture they say that they need to lose their teeth before they die, or their grandchildren will die instead. and how her mother will not eat chicken that anyone else besides herself prepares (more of a personal thing instead of cultural). how she scrubs it until it is white, she says. and i got to thinking… it’s really not that different from all these other silly things i as an American think of or have been taught.

west african people have my heart. oh, so much. and i am just in awe of how He has prepared me. really, it’s crazy good to think about.

um, wow. fo real.

um, i was on Fb and this new window just all of a sudden popped up and this began playing. uh yeah, that's God...

well, before crunch time (haha... i am such a horrible student/procrastinator)...
for months i’ve wished i was in mali, and i still do - but WHOAAAAAAA is there a lot to do before then!

apply for a malian visa. purchase a plane ticket. get a yellow fever shot and figure out what else i need to do medical wise. pack, pack, and pack some more. speak. take in my surroundings and the people i’ve known all my life one more time. buy a packet of tissues for the airport. thanksgiving. graduate. Christmas. the SALT conference in florida. attend some awesome services with some friends in january in NC. and hug some people more than i have in my entire life. try not to tear up at odd times. realize there is still skype. take pictures with everyone so i can slip them in my suitcase. and last but not least, live the life He wants me to live while all this is going on. to trust Him when it seems everything is going crazy, & i’m being stretched like a rubberband (thanks to kimberly for the analogy). just to trust Him. because i have NO idea where all of this is taking me, but He does. and i trust His plan.

i tried to think of a title that would pop. but i couldn't.

tomorrow marks the first day of the school week for me. this fall break has been an awesome, busy time. i’m 98% closer to a step being done for next year. that took two days, plus all those other times i jotted stuff down. i felt very relieved after placing 150ish stamps on letters and stuffing them into the little blue square mailbox guy at the post office this afternoon. i also sent out a very important email that i’ve needed to get done since october 1st. and i bought enough camis (big thanks to two very special people) to supply myself from january to january. and i daydreamed about being in the marketplace in bamako and seeing the prettyful bracelets and such. i’ve just now realized what i will be getting my family the belated Christmas after i return. and if you’re reading this twin a, the secret’s out and now you can dream with me of what it will look like - because i am so looking forward to finding out. holden and i had this convo a while back, but i can’t seem to remember what he wanted me to bring him, other than something having to do with animals i believe. i’ll have to ask you, little buddy, because i can’t forget. also, i received an email today about english department gradutation. it’s at 2pm on december 17th. don’t let me forget.

a taboo topic.

i want to write about something that i just want to get off my chest - my future husband. no, i am currently not in a relationship with a guy and honestly, i know that God planned it that way because i need to focus on Him right now and the Call that He has on my life. no, i don't know when that "time" will come or if it will come. i really want it to come, but over this past summer i have laid all my desires at His feet, because i want to please Him and do His will, not mine. i want kids - oh, so badly. at almost twenty three, it pains me to see all my friends with their guy, engaged or married. it really does. i stare at the bride and groom at the altar and tear up lately. but i know when and if my guy comes it will be the right time when he shows up. i have promised myself that i will not settle in life, and just take the first guy that i see so that i can have my dream of being a wife and mom to a gazillion kids. i want to do Your will.
for all the people who have thought this, but haven't said anything for fear of hurting my feelings, i am fully aware that me leaving next year and consecrating myself to the Call He has placed on my life is narrowing down the pool of guys (haha, if i can call it that) to like one or two. but i so desperately want to be with that guy (if God wants me to) who is equally passionate about serving God in full-time missions and raising children in a home that exemplifies what parents are supposed to biblically. i don't just want to marry to be married. i want my marriage to be from God and serving Him with everything we have within us as one. i realize that God will have to send this guy my way who has this same love for missions as i do, but i trust Him. whether He sends me this guy or He wants me to remain single, i trust Him. it's not without sacrificing my desires, but i pray Your will be done.
BIG HAPPY SIGH. it's off my chest now. :)

i have an urgent unspoken prayer request. i need some prayer warriors. thanks.

Jehovah Jireh - my Provider - is soooo mind blowing.

i am just plain overwhelmed at the goodness of God and His people. I spoke yesterday at my home church, a church that is rather small in size compared to a lot of churches, but i received a love offering that blew my mind. I've been thinking of my plane ticket and shot a lot lately, not worrying mind you, but just saying, "okay God, i'm looking to you for this one, because i have no way on earth to earn money for a plane ticket to the continent of Africa. and it's getting about the time where i need to start doing this." for those of you who have traveled to Africa, you know the overwhelming expense of a plane ticket there :)
There was a two day yard sale scheduled for last friday and saturday, and i had it figured out, that and speaking at church would definitely be enough to get the plane ticket purchased and shots. those two things together - the yard sale and speaking at my home church. well, God just showed me yesterday that even though the yard sale has been postponed because of horrible flooding in my hometown until a later date in november, He can still work and bring in more money than little ole me ever thought possible through just one of those. i am still in awe. i even have two monthly supporters due to yesterday's presentation. God is just too awesome for words. i now have more than enough money for a plane ticket and a yellow fever shot.
i think i'm still in a dream state :) God is working those wonders that i knew He would.
EDIT
oh, and here's a very humorous part of my day straight off the press:
a repairman came to work on our freezer today, and he was asking me what i majoring in during college, etc. i told him english, and then how i was moving to africa (i love how God gives these opportunities to share). then he says (while he's working on the freezer) "are you really sure you want to do this??" and in mid sentence the freezer shocked him. haha, just a little jolt to hush him up. bahah! :D I love how God is humorous. :)

which toms should i pick??

help! lol. i'm having a toms crisis and i need your input on which shoe to get :))

i cannot stop listening to this.

Rahab Ministries from CCC Omaha on Vimeo.

a bad-kind-of-weird, yet strangely-turning-out-to-be-good day.

so, i just emailed my essays to the professor. that’s a relief.
now off to fall break and a wonderful four days with people i’ve missed. it’s not without reading and bunches of work for classes involved, of course, but none the less they call it fall break. :)
we read about you, bamako, for class today. i thought that was a little awesome :) oh, and i found out we continued the movie about mali wednesday when my body mistakenly decided to sleep in. but, there’s still one more day of you, little mali movie, because they didn’t finish. so i get to sit there and dream of you, dogon country, once more while in class and let your words tickle my ears as i become strangely familiar with hearing bambara and wanting to speak it too.
oh, and let me not forget how my west african professor keeps adding things about you, mali, into the class and looking at me when she says it. of course, she knows of my venture, but nontheless this is one of the sweetest things anyone has ever done for me.
i keep coming across Americans in my reading who have moved to Africa to serve for extended periods of time (even Peace Corp volunteers) and i long to know my new name the new nation surrounding myself will give me. or how long it will be? and how it will sound on my tongue. i long to write it down, for that is part of my fascination with everything. my love of the written word and how it appears. the allegorical allusions and metaphors. the similes that make me smile. and imagery. oh, sweet imagery.
and last, but oh so not least, i’m giving this Sunday to You. i want my words to be Your words, and for You to be glorified. this isn’t about what i can do for mali, but what You can do. i just want them to know it’s not me - so desperately. please, take over me

this Nisondiya, this Joy.

joy. noun. 1 the feeling of knowing i’m Yours, and that i now have a lion residing in me - Judah’s roar. 2. His unending love and grace. 3. the indescribable way i lay my head down and fear subsides when i think of Who You are. even though many enemies i may have, the One who spoke all of us into existence whispers to me i am His and am loved oh so dearly. 4. in the place of my ashes, beauty now dances. no longer am i hopeless, for you have given me a Hope and Happiness none can steal.

i have it all. anything i could ever want. and it’s You. and i’ll forever tell of this Nisondiya, this Joy

just keeps thinking of those precious people. and how He has privledged me so to be able to do this with Him. He didn't have to use me, but He is. that is proof grace covers everything. anyone can be used by Him if you allow Him to take over. are you willing?

i have one thing to say. :)

dogon country in march.

p.s. remember how i prayed to be able to go here while in mali?

every time i see this picture, i smile.

bamako fabrics.

bamako is the capital city of mali. notice the fabrics in this picture. i am in love.

every color of the rainbow.

i'd say i have enough shirts & skirts for mali. gosh, God is awesome in provision! :)