Posted in General Posts by Monica Myers on 6/5/2010
 The morning of May 30th I was still in Cambodia and I woke up with the Joy of the LORD on my side! I began packing up for our flight to Thailand listening to music dancing and singing. Then we get a knock on the door...and it was my leader for the year, awesome friend, and amazing brother Austin...I could immediately tell something wasnt right when I Joyfully purked up with a GOOD MORNING and didnt get the best response!!! He knew it was going to be hard to tell me... So we walked downstairs and signed into my skype account and he was starting to freak me out and I told him that then, He said, "Just call your momma" So Then I heard the news from brother Maurice that My amazing, joyful spirit, faithful, best daddy a girl could ever asked for had passed away that morning! He had a heart attack which led to  a seizure and went home to be with the Lord! He literally was laughing praising the Lord one minute and the next sitting at the Feet of our savior singing praises of His name! He went to Praise the Lord in streets of Gold!
So I got on the earliest flight possible to head home and be with my family. As I sat on the plane listening to music, my father's favorite song came on my iPod. "Glorious Day" by Todd Agnew. And the tears start falling. Now I can tell ya one thing... I dont think I made the best plane partner that day! I was trying not to be a blubbering idiot. haha! But as I sat on that plane listening to worship music, I thought of all the tears my father and I have shed together over the years! Tears of pain, of sorrow, of anger, but mostly of JOY!  Tears of pain when he broke his achilles tendon going for a lay up while coaching my basketball team in 4th grade, or when he would call me every day after I became unengaged just checking on his baby-girl!
Tears of sorrow after his father my grandpa died, then only 5 years later his mother my grandma Mary-lou passed away. Or when he was the only one around to cry with me and hold me close when my friend committed sucide. Or even tears over his failed marriage not knowing what to do!
Tears of anger as we fought every Sunday when he would come banging on my door telling me I was coming to church no matter what...and after we argued about this for awhile every Sunday morning in my teenage years...He always ended up winning! haha! Or when the arguments came from me being a selfish child and fought the fact that he wanted to get remarried to an amazing woman because that would mean, my daddy wasn't always going to be around when I wanted him!
Then the best part....Tears of JOY!!!
These tears of Joy came a lot of times when receiving gifts from my sister and I, or the time when on a mission trip together in Northern Ireland trying to stop these teenage boys from throwing creamers at us while they yelled at him, (he was wearing bib overalls btw)"COME GET US FARMER BOY", the day my brother-in-law fell through the cealing in their home, then  many times of family get togethers at my sister's house, the day he married his beautiful amazing bride Linda, then the many times he would get fired up talkin about his wife, and when he got to walk his daughter Danielle down the aisle and give her away to his new son!  Or the numerous times he got to spend with his beautiful grandaugters.    Then the last time was about a 3 weeks ago now! I got to talk to him on skype before going out to a village and he told me he was feeling great and ready to concur the world, how blessed he was to have such wonderful people coming to take care of him after his heart surgery, and then I got to one last time tell him my knock knock joke that I made up when I was and still made him laugh hysterically every time. It went like this....LOL.... me: Knock Knock
Dad: who's there?
me: the cow
Dad: The cow who?
me: The cow that lives in the tree
They came so often during times of worship to the Lord! My father and I had a special relationship, one where we could just sing worship songs to the Lord together for hours! My favorite thing was to stand next to Dad in church. We would be singing and then I would look at him and he would be wiping the tears out of his eyes because he was overwhelmed with Joy that the Lord loved him so much!
When I was in highschool we would make the hour drive up to Koko  mo where he was from and our family still lived there and would visit often! It never failed, every time we would be listening to the radio and "butterfly kisses" would come on and we would both sing our hearts out to that song. Then at the end look over only to see tears streaming down eachothers faces. And then turn down the radio and laugh at how sappy we both were and how excited we were for that day when we would dance to that song at my wedding, and if you are unaware, that day hasn't come yet! haha...This day not only have I been dreaming about for years but also my father! We would laugh and talk about it often and even had it planned to a T how he would give me away! lol....we were pretty silly! Those are my favorite memories! I miss those times!
My father was an amazing man....
I saw him grow in amazing ways this year even as I was gone for 10 months. I kept seeing the Joy my father was to everyone around him and realizing what he had done for our family! He had unexplainable Joy! He wrote me a few months ago and told me he was leading a men's devotion on Joy. I was sooooo PROUD of my daddy! He was so proud of his girls! Even though we sure didnt make his life easy, but thats the very thing, why dad was the man he was. He went through many, many things in his life, but believed through all those things God was molding, transforming, growing him into the MAN of God he was the day he died! That morning, He was laughing and singing praises to the Lord ALL day Long!!!
What a better way to go out folks
 So Dad, you have left behind many that love and miss you bunches, but you also have left behind an amazing legacy! God Used you! Thats all you ever wanted and He did it daddy-O! I am so proud to tell people about my daddy and the man you were and the man PRAISING the Lord today at His glorious throne today! We are soooo happy for you dad! I LOVE YOU soooo much and miss you! But don't worry I will be up there someday and you better be waiting for me with your arms open wide for that big bear hug you were suppose to give when I got off the plane, and then I will tell you all my stories from this year daddy! OH and I will save a dance for you to "butterfly kisses", be ready Daddy ;)
 
One thing I hate to ask but I really need your help! The insurance company is a huge blessing, they paid for half of my plane ticket. Altogether it was $2300 so that means I need to raise about $1150 and I need your help for that! Because of the event of my father's death I still need pay AIM for the plane ticket! Please prayfully consider this! THANK YOU and God Bless!
Thank you sooooo much to everyone who has been praying, sent flowers, came to the funeral and just thinking of us! We have needed all of it! I can now say though that my family has an unexplainable Peace from the Lord. Some days are harder than others (like when you write a blog about him...haha) but we are doing great! thank you again!
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Posted in General Posts by Monica Myers on 4/17/2010
ONCE upon a time in GHETTO YO... (its the beginning of a song I used to really like haha)
So my heart has always been broken for the ghetto areas! Growing up my mother would take us to downtown Indianapolis worked at the Wheeler Mission and then also with Salvation Army ARC, Light house mission, and working with mom at the hospital. And mom and dad had friends that lived on the eastside of Indy which coming from a small town like Monrovia was the Ghetto...I remember being very curious about the people downtown as I always was about everything as a child...main reason I was always in trouble! And maybe that's why curious George was my favorite character when I was little.
Why are those men warming there hands over the fire...i want to go talk with them...who is that little girl and where is her mother...why does everything feel so dark and dreary here? I just didnt understand it all! And I still dont get it but my heart breaks more now than ever!
So about 2 months ago when we were in Lira, Uganda I woke up to pray one morning and I was praying for my family as I do pretty much every morning and then I started praying for my sister. I am a very visual person if you dont know me...I am always imagining everything when I am praying or just thinking even! So I started to pray for my sister...and as I was praying I was thinking about the numerous times I have been at her house and we just stare out the window at the people in the neighborhood... then usually Maurice will see us and make fun of us saying we are nosy but its fun to just know whats going on in the area. Even just before I left we were doing this wondering what in the world the neighbors were doing!
 As I continued to pray my heart started breaking! I was picturing the people of that neighborhood and then all the people in Indianapolis...seeing and feeling the hurts, the disappointment, the abanoned, the single moms, the broken hearted, the prideful, the jobless, the thief, the crackwhore, the lonely, and even the drunk auntie that sits on her porch watchin drug deals go down. I started to cry Uncontrollably weeping for these people.... I was hurting as if their pain were inside my heart!
SO I went out to pray with the team and they all were wondering what I was crying about and I shared with them so then we prayed some more for these areas. I realized how many times I have spent the night in these rough areas and didnt wake up praying the next morning for God to radically change their hearts! I guess I didn't really believe in the POWER of Prayer then! I thought about all of it and really God said if you truly dont understand why they do the things they do ask me to break your heart for them and then you will know! So I did awhile ago and thats why My eyes and heart were so heavy that day! Now It is a part of my prayer every week because I still dont understand why things happen the way they do!......
but My HEART still breaks for them!
Then I come here to Baguio City, Philippines and work with the streetwalkers, strippers, just women selling themselves to feel more beautiful and make money! This empowered me to share my testimony with them and those of the women in this area! Thank You Lord for seeing all the way back then what I would be doing HERE in Baguio City!!!
Sex was how I made it through
Without someone to teach you love what else is there to do?
So where I'm from they call you gay and say you ain't a man
Show them you ain't no punk
Get all the girls you can
A simple plan that still haunts me even now today
Back to seventeen and got a baby on the way
NO G.E.D. all I see is failure in my eyes
If you listening then remember I apologize
I was raised falling in the church
Made mistakes heard the Lord's calling in the church
After service on the parking lot getting high
Wanted to be accepted so bad I was willing to die
Even tried to tell the pastor but he couldn't see
Years of low self esteem and insecurities
Church taught me how to shout and how to speak in tongues
But preacher teach me how to live now when the tongue is done, help me
Their Are numerous stories like this one of a song called LET IT Go! These are real stories and feelings people deal with everyday!....THESE Are REAL people! and We can NO Longer ignore them or be terrified by them when we pass through these neighborhoods! Its Simple...Just keep LOVING them until it hurts! Then love some more!
"Being unwanted, unloved, uncared for, forgotten by everybody, I think that is a much greater hunger, a much greater poverty than the person who has nothing to eat."
- Mother Theresa
These people need LOVE too!!! No matter their anger, their lying, theft, foul language, perverted comments, or anything they are struggling with!
God did not and will not give up on THEM so neither should we!!!
please join me in praying for my future working in these areas and for these sometimes unloved people!
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Posted in General Posts by Monica Myers on 4/13/2010
The guys Austin and Sam playing basketball with the locals
Our team went horse back riding on our day off. Great time!
Ricarti my horse!!! He was releasing some liquids :-)
 prayer walk before we got to Red Light District
 All these last ones are of the night we went out to the Red light district under the bridge! It was a Beautiful thing seeing God work right there on their hearts! 2 of the women accepted Jesus and we prayed for many more! There is a spirit of Lust all through this city and the enemy is having his way! These women are BEAUTIFUL and LOVED...and we want them to get OUT of this business! This is all some of them know...its what they grew up in but They are about to KNOW a WHOLE lot more!!!!
thank you for your prayers Please continue to be in prayer for the Crossover Missions here in Baguio City, Philippines! The enemy does not like the work that's being done! LOVE you and thanks sooo much for your prayers! These women, my team, this mission, and this country need them! So keep em coming!!!! :-)
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Posted in General Posts by Monica Myers on 4/5/2010
Hey Everyone...I am leaving for Philippines tomorrow night but before I left we had a free internet connection that I thought I would take advantage of and update you guys :-) Hope you enjoy and please leave some comments!!.....Ok
 
  So in many History classes growing up I have heard of these strong women of our past times that had to go to work when their husbands left to go fight in the War! This role for women was a new thing! Although real-life Rosie the Riveters took on male dominated trades during WWII, women were expected to return to their everyday housework once men returned from the war. - - - - -And during this time of women in the workforce came many many good things and this is an example of just one of those! It has been said that it was the process of whites working along blacks during the time that encouraged a breaking down of social barriers and a healthy recognition of diversity. I have watched numerous movies about how hard the women back then had it and had to fight for their rights to even continue to work!
So learning about all these women and seeing the strong women of my family have inspired me over the years to be a STRONG woman! Well first off I have my mamaw...Lena...I have heard countless stories of how she was raising my mom, aunts, and uncle, while preparing dinner, and taking care of her household! She worked for many years at an autoparts plant while still caring and being the foundation of our family! Then going beyond her call of a mother she let me move in with her the year before I graduated and we had a wonderful time (miss those days)!!! I learned so much about what it means to be a woman in that time! What a WOMAN!!!
Then Raising my mother to be such a strong woman! Donna...  I tell you what she has been through many trials and hard times over her many years of life (not to many right mom - only 39 ;-) But raising my sister and I with much love and determination to have good mannered girls! While still working numerous jobs on the side and still managing to make it to all my sister and my volleyball, basketball, baseball games, showchoir competitions and many other things we were involved in! Still to this day letting God take her from the place she was in and totally transforming her life to the woman of God she is today! My aunt CATHY wow she has such an amazing beautiful servants heart! From a young age she left family and had to be all grown up married and living in Germany. While her family back home missed her dearly...then just the mother she was to my awesome cousins raising them as a single mother wow...there are many things I dont even know about my aunt cathy but the woman I see today and the things I DO know...I see an incredible woman!!!
My sister Danielle!!! Wow this woman I can't tell you how proud I am of her and the ways I have seen her grow from a troubled young adult to a MIGHTY WOMAN of God not relenting on her family and continuing to pursue God even when she is not really sure what he is doing with her life! God has truly redeemed her with every part of her now wanting the Lord above all else now matter what that means! That's my beautiful sister for ya!!! I could go on and on naming the many strong women of my family and what they do but it is not enough time or space for this!
So as we begin our time in Africa, the J squad girls went against the K squad girls had a harmless football game! Sad news (they won) But anyways We were still STRONG Women! We were ready to kick some tail walking our way to the field! But at the end of the day we are all sister - - - good times
In Africa we Found woman after woman working long hours...while still taking care of her family! Still cooking all the meals, over  coals burning stoves and cleaning their homes, carrying water and all sorts of things on their head! I actually did this carrying a huge box of laundry bar soap on my head and man did I feel strong....my neck not so much after I put it down! But the African women were proud as I walked through the streets in Lira with that box on my head! That day I  felt like a real African woman! :-) A woman we met there named Helen was a beautiful example of a hardworking African woman! She was the wife of Sam a guy we got really really close to in Lira, Uganda! She worked as a cook at the church preparing lunch for the many pastors of that church everyday and also making sure her children's homework was getting done and also very active in the Living Positive with HIV club! They met every Friday and prayed talked for awhile and encouraged eachother! A loving mother with so much love for her husband that it was BEAUTIFUL! She is in a few words the one that supports her family finacially and has an incredible love for her community and the sweetest heart! Every time I saw her she just inspired me to be more of a Godly woman than I am now ya know!!!
This is just one example of a woman in Africa that is stronger than Rosie! Now dont anybody get your panties in a tight wad...I really do believe that that generation did amazing things in America and am so thankful for all the good that those women brought to our country. I just dont want these amazing women in Africa to get put on the back burner! They are AWESOME! We for one month in Tanzania did all the cooking for ourselves, did all our laundry, start fires, haggled at the market all day and even killed and gutted some chicken! :-) We only did part of what those women do and boy did we sleep hard every night!!! 
The girls on my team have started doing a girls night about 2 months ago...we meet monday-friday and just encourge eachother! Its just organic, there is nothing really planned about it and thats the way we like it! Sometimes we just pray, we have a bible study, or sometimes just talk! Priscilla has a night or morning where we study the women of the bible then we each have a card and you write 1 to 2 encouraging words about your sister! this is such a BLESSING each week! WE LOVE our girl time!!! But something I have learned as we have studied Dorcas, Elizabeth, Deborah, Esther, Hagar, and many others! BUT the overlying themes and what makes these girls STRONG WOMEN of God are these are reasons why.....there is a strong sense of action, they get things done - there they obey immediately - strong prayer life - always seeking the Lord in all they do - always honoring GOD above any thing! These are just a few areas that I am going to improve and work on in my life because i WANT to be this mighty of a WOMAN for my family!
So here are some women that I live with this year that just inspire me to keep growing and be stronger everyday and a MIGHTY Women of GOD!!! 
She is clothed with strength and dignity;
she can laugh at the days to come.
She speaks with wisdom,
and faithful instruction is on her tongue.
She watches over the affairs of her household
and does not eat the bread of idleness.
Her children arise and call her blessed;
her husband also, and he praises her:
"Many women do noble things,
but you surpass them all."
Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
 but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.
STRENGTH painted by: the lovely Kendra Baird
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Posted in General Posts by Monica Myers on 3/13/2010
Recently I was challenged that I should NOT share my story here on my blog page...that there are just certain things where I need to keep my personal life personal. And even here in Uganda as I attended the HIV positive living club meetings, they are encouraged to share their stories! This seemed to be a bit of a challenge for them at first. We waited for a while until a brave woman stoop up and told her story, then another, then another, and then young girl told her heartbreaking story of how she was only 13 and was living positively with HIV that she received from her mother. As she was up there she spoke about how she remembered to take her medicine everyday and she asked us to pray for her when we go back! So of course we said we would and as I was fighting back the tears...
Another woman felt she should stand up and tell her story and as she introduced herself it happen to be this girl's mother. She spoke with a trembling in her voice as if she were about to cry every moment another word came out of her mouth. She was also HIV positive and said she had 5 children and two of them were infected by this horrible disease. I could feel the pain she had from passing this to her kids and she could do nothing about it! But in the end she said she knew God is GOOD and has done many amazing things in her life and she is soooo thankful that her and her two positive children are still alive! And also she asked for our prayers as we leave that place and return home. After she sat down she inspired many others to tell their stories of how they are living with this disease and still having FAITH in the Lord every day. Just in this small group they are breaking out of this mind set where we should keep personal things personal.
I was speaking with my brother Austin on this matter last night and we were realizing that one of the reasons we went and discovered all the mistakes we made was because past generations have been so QUIET on these matters of where they struggled, where they fought to stay pure and what that battle looked like, of how they felt the guilt of their decisions when they did mess up. I believe that if our generations parents and grandparents were more open with us and truly shared their hearts with us then it might not have been taken as a lecture but receive it more as a HEART Issue. Now hear me right on this...I am NOT by any means saying that it was my parents or grandparents fault for any of the mistakes I made! (Please don't hear it that way) I made each and every choice on my own! I could have chosen another way every time, but I am saying I am going to be a lot more open with my children! (NOW I know there is a fine line and I will find that when I have a family of my own)
I see all the concerns with being this open on the internet, I really do! And I respect those concerns and the wanting to protect me. I am in a completely different generation and from a different time in history, I understand that. It doesn't mean the older generation should hold in all the ways God is growing them and letting joy be their strength in hard times or really relying on God to help them fight the temptations! It is NOT time to through in the towel...Rather the Opposite!!!
But this doesn't mean I can be silent! I CAN'T! Its not what God has created me to do... The way I was made was to share my life, my struggles, my joys, my fears, my dreams, my WHOLE life with people! How can I truly challenge or encourage people to grow if I don't share How He is growing me through all my failures, faults, and struggles!
In fact I Do NOT see anywhere in the bible where it tells us to stay quiet and hold our stories in! To not share our struggles and life challenges with everyone! NO Where! But I do see all over where Paul shares his trials and troubles, and encourages others to not follow in the same struggles he had. Also in Proverbs 27:17 it says that as Iron sharpens iron so does man sharpen man! Now if I am struggling with purity and impure thoughts and want to change my ways then also because I love my neighbor as myself I want them to follow in the ways of the righteous! I DO NOT want them to go down the same path or make the same mistakes I have made! So I will SHARE my story no matter how vulnerable and embarrassing that may be for me.
And believe me there are things in my life I kept secret for years, things that I struggled with, things that made me feel like one of the worst people. But the moment I spoke these things out and shared, it released a hold, a power the devil had against me. It helped me truly deal with the issue instead of hide behind it, And it opened the door for others to speak out and share their stories when they thought they were the only one who struggled with that! We were Able to hold each other accountable!
I love them enough that it's worth the vulnerability and embarrassment! I think this is a misconstrued concept that we have to keep our personal lives personal!
So I wrote this big long thing in defense but mostly to share my thoughts....and mostly to say
We have to learn to share our Life with others!!!
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Posted in General Posts by Monica Myers on 3/13/2010
Hmmm...I don't even know how to tell you the things we did last month in LIRA, Uganda and what God has been challenging me on or what areas I am growing in....
Last month was amazing...I was able to actually spend time with all the people and focus more on ministry then what God is changing in my life! This is something that happens out here on this race quite a bit because this trip is for many things but a huge part of it is for us to grow ourselves to become more like Christ and to truly discover what it is God wants to do with my life!
He just wants me to love Him and Love His people
Ministries I was involved in last month......
• I worked with the HIV positive living club...(they meant each Friday and would share stories and encourage each other, and we PRAYED every time for God to HEAL them) - I don't know the results but I trust that God did heal people because I was obedient in that.
• We worked with the COMPASSION kids office...(Here we helped with filing the paperwork on each child and teaching in their Saturday afternoon classes for the children)
• Echoes of Grace was a dancing ministry they had at the church...(Brenda and I joined and learned 2 challenging but very fun dances to perform on Sunday at church as another way to worship the Lord in all our giftings He has blessed us with)
• We were also involved in the hospital ministry...(It was more of something our friend we made there, Sam, asked us to be a part of, we went and prayed over the different people and units in the hospital, and just went to encourage them in their faith)
• We went to the Prison a couple times and preached...(Priscilla, Brenda, and I spoke to them the first time about freedom and what that really means and how we have to believe and trust in Him even when we don't want too...it was amazing just to be able to encourage them and see their smiling faces as we left and pray healing over them)
• A Nursing School had meetings every Sunday night...(This was a BEAUTIFUL thing, all of us worshiping together. We screamed our love for the Lord with family we didn't even know)
• Door to door evangelism...(I will admit that this one scared me, but we went out and I left all the speaking to the Lord and HE used me!!! I said things I didn't even know because the Spirit was speaking through...PRAISE GOD... we led several people to the Lord which are now involved in Cell groups twice a week and growing in their faith)
• My biggest ministry of the month was working with the staff at the hotel where we were staying ...(there were about 10 staff for this Place called Alpha Hotel that worked so hard from sun up to passed sun down. So I just joined in with them and built many amazing relationships while I made up the beds, cooked lunch and dinner, did laundry, kept up the grounds. This was the ministry God told me to get involved with and much fruit would come from it! So I did and I miss them all so much and pray for them constantly)
So after all these ministries last month I learned many things...One of the biggest ones and I would love for you guys to join me in prayer about this is obedience....and I don't just mean listening and doing the things God has told you and even when it sounds crazy and you know everyone will think you're crazy and you don't know the outcome of all of it, to OBEY and do it, NO questions asked!
I just heard a true story of a woman who was standing outside a store and she blatantly heard the Lord tell her to stand on her head. Of course as any of us would she wrestled with this in her mind for a couple seconds and then said okay God, this sound nuttso but I will do it... So then there was a lady walking out of the store having the worst day of her life but has heard God tell her to give Him another chance, she said, "Okay God if I come out this store and someone is standing on their head, then I will"
Now I know that God doesn't always work this way but in this case He did. And I was talking with my friend Brandy and we were saying how God is so sovereign that He doesn't have time for us to not obey. He asked us but if He doesn't get an answer or some action then He will just move on to someone else who will OBEY! So we BETTER be willing to OBEY the Lord at any cost!
Thank you all so much for your prayers...Please continue with me to be praying for Radical OBEDIENCE to the Lord! Thank you and LOVE YOU ALL!!!
p.s. sorry there are no pictures the internet is to slow to upload them! :-( SORRY
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Posted in General Posts by Monica Myers on 1/21/2010
Last night before I went to bed I started to write in my journal and pray and read my bible which has become an awesome routine in my life for the past couple weeks! So then as I was journaling and praying I stopped because I had to do my nightly bathroom break before bed! I was on my way out there and immediately it got very eery...I got the ebee geebees...if you know what those are haha! But the same feeling came that would come when I used to take my dog samson outside to use the bathroom at 2 in the morning! I became scared and it just felt like something was out there something was trying to attack this house and all the people in it!
I came back to the room and got in bed and noticed my teammate Rebecca was still awake so I told her what I had felt and read her my journal entry!..."I don't want us to get home and just decide to quit waking up ready for battle, its gonna be a struggle but that doesn't matter. I don't want to ever live my life being comfortable just living for myself and only myself not living everyday wanting to strive for more and grow in deeper intimacy with the Lord."
We had a really good discussion on how right when we are striving for so much more and our team truly is going all for everything with every inch of our beings, of course it would be the time for the enemy to come a knockin on our doors tryin to lead us astray! we said NO we are not letting that happen on this team! I feared for our dreams and sleep that night! So I started reading Psalm 91! This always helps when you think the enemy is trying to attack and work his way in your life. I really have been growing so much in just the ways from my last blog of how God is teaching me to be a woman of integrity in many ways, But as I have been growing and really really truly stepping out and doing the things I say the enemy is trying to attack more! As you know from my last blog my past has determined many of the ways my life has gone. I vowed though to put an end to this then and there....THE END.....but then as tends to be the case thoughts come creeping in. And today I found myself battling with thoughts from my past, just lustful thoughts that a WOMAN of God and with High integrity should not be walking in...so I was crying out to the Lord, wondering why these won't go away! I think this is something I have struggled with my whole life and I am sick and tired of it! I DONT want these thoughts to consume my head rather I want thoughts of our Lord most HIGH! I REALLY mean that too! It says over and over in scripture for our consciences to be clear and to have pure thoughts and a renewed mind.....Galatians 5:19-26, 2 Timothy 2:20-22, Hebrews 4:12-13, 1 Thess. 5:5-8 and there are many more I can't find at this moment.
So see I know it's possible to have pure thoughts but it is so much harder when you have gone beyond what you are suppose to in a physical relationship! BUT just because its harder because of my mistakes does not give me room to sit and wallow in self defeat! I WILL NOT live my life this way but rather depend on the Lord's strength to take over when I am weak! And although waking up every morning begging the Lord take captive my thoughts and totally remove any sinful lustful thoughts, might get redundant at times and feel pointless really...I DON'T CARE, I am going to have to wake up every morning praying these exact thoughts... IF and only IF I truly want to be freed from my past from my sinful nature! I am Monica CHRIST Myers NOT Monica Lustful Myers! No sirrry bob I will not claim that over my life or accept it!
So as you see this has been a battle for years and will continue to be if I don't give the thoughts to Him every time they enter in. This means....now I know I ask for a lot of prayers but thats what we should be doing as brothers and sisters...SO I am gonna ask again for your prayers....I need YOUR help also to fight this battle!
Thank you so much for the LOVE and support I get from you all everyday in prayers, financially and just encouragement! And I don't get to check internet that often here because it's so expensive but I really love getting encouragement from you all, any type of word from back home is definitely needed and highly appreciated! My email is sweetmon05@yahoo.com.......so write when you can or simply leave a message from on here my blog site! Oh and just an update as you see money is still coming in PRAISE THE LORD...I am at $1500 left to raise so not much more just please be in prayer for that as well! Oh and REALLY with a sincere heart I am asking you to please send me any prayer request or updates on life back home! (side note: Dad how are the colts doing who is in the playoffs...we have a bunch of wondering minds here in Kitale, Kenya! Just wanted to be able to have bragging rights if thats possible...so let me know...haha)
Love you all sooooo MUCH only because He loved me first and is teaching me to love more everyday...have blessed dreams tonight and a wonderful work week! :-)
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Posted in General Posts by Monica Myers on 1/2/2010
A brand new year...I really don't like making resolutions and I really don't like over doing the whole new year thing and saying let's start everything afresh but I believe this year really is a new year for me! I feel I have been able to really see things totally different in...my life, my love, my self-control, my relationships, my future! 
One area I will start out telling you all about that I have learned I need to change is self-discipline...self-control! So I say a LOT of things...I say I need to do a lot of things and yet do I actually get up and do them, sad to admit but NOPE!!! I have not really been a woman of integrity...a woman of my word! This is quite a shameful thing to admit for me! Because I have never ever thought I would be this woman or at least admit it to everyone reading my blog...ha! I tell people I will do things and then in my head I think it out and don't think it's such a good idea and don't do it or just have intentions to tell them I changed my mind and then it never comes out of my mouth! So I fail at that part too! Then even with myself I do not stand by my word! I say I will get up and read my bible and have prayer time and then when it is time to get up I simply decide that sleeping is more important...more important than battling in prayer for the day for my family, friends, this country and myself...more important than letting God give me revelations from His words for that day and simply just getting encouragement from it! WHAT am I thinking! REALLY! 
In 1 Peter He says to think clearly and exercise self-control, and again still in 2 Peter 1:5-8 it says... In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God's promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone. The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
All of these things are sooo important together! Without one it is hard to have the other! If you continue on in this passage it says how we must work hard and prove that you are among those God has called and chosen. If these things are strived for then we won't fall away..... Right there is the ANSWER! If we can do these things and not fall away...then why in the world don't we do them and not fall away from our Lord! I mean really! There have been many things over the years I realized this about listening to all the music that is disgusting as in only has perverse meaning  and just bad news ya know... So in realizing this about myself I tried having people keep my accountable by waking me up and reminding me to read my bible...but really I feel this is a very immature move...haha I mean really something a 13 year old would have their mom do! So I simply have to get up and do it! MAKE myself get up and MAKE myself read...and MAKE myself pray and its all within my own choices that will decide whether I do this or not! But I know my flesh is not always going to be strong enough so I beg the Lord to be that shove that gets me up because He knows my hearts and my longings to know Him deeper, so He will do just that WAKE me up in many ways!
The next issue of my life I would like to tackle has been an issue in my life for quite some time...it's in relationships as in the kind between a woman and a man! I recently have spoken with a couple of my sisters about my past experiences in relationships and how I didn't make the right decisions in them quite often!  See quite a few years ago when I was only in Jr. High is when everything started to go downhill! And the thing of it was that I was not even concerned that it was dishonoring the Lord or hurting Him, I was more worried that I would get caught by my parents or someone else ya know! And it wasn't till I was a sophomore in college and had finally started dating someone in my grandmothers words haha...that I actually realized what it was that I had given away! There was this one thing I truly wanted to be able to give my husband and we had been talking about that and it was just that simple I couldn't give it to anyone because I had already given it away, this special gift that's meant for only my husband! (BTW some of these things you might not know about me and I am sorry this is the way you find out)
Then realizing this again after I was engaged and then not with Him any longer how truly disgusting I felt because I truly was in love with Christ and I couldn't even save myself or stay pure as He says in 2 Timothy 2:21-22...If you keep yourself pure, you will be a special utensil for honorable use. Your life will be clean, and you will be ready for the Master to use you for every good work. Run from anything that stimulates youthful lusts. Instead, pursue righteous living, faithfulness, love, and peace. Enjoy the companionship of those who call on the Lord with pure hearts.... So as I saw in this verse...I know that God has redeemed me from all these things that I have got myself into and put myself through because He is so very gracious and forgiving and loving with His unfailing LOVE! But it wasn't till the other night when I was talking to my friends and sisters Brittany and Brenda that I really decided something...more as in God spoke to me and I actually listened! I know myself and I know my strengths and weaknesses and what I can get myself into. So as we sat and told stories of our past and discussed how good of an idea it would be to not kiss at all till we are married! Let me preface this by saying NEVER EVER did I ever think this was a good idea! I thought this was a decision only lame-o super Christian kids or homeschoolers made...sorry no offense all you that this might offend!
But Then as we kept speaking of the "no kissing" idea, I kept saying things that would bring up GOOD points in my head why I should do it! The Lord also reminded me of this verse that I loved and then I guess obviously just forgot about... Run from sexual sin! No other sin so clearly affects the body as this one does. For sexual immorality is a sin against your own body, Don't you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body. 1 Corinthians 6:18-20...The more I kept speaking to the girls about this matter the more I convinced myself the more God convinced me that the only way I was truly not going to go back down this path in the future and truly was going to be redeemed was by REALLY not putting myself in this position to even be able to mess up!!! SO I have decided to do NO Kissing until the day I say I do!!! NOW don't get me wrong I KNOW this is a bold statement and I KNOW this will be soooo HARD but it is what I AM GOING TO DO!!! J
LOVE you all sooo much! So in these bold statements I have made before ALL of you PLEASE keep me in your prayers! J thanks for all the support!
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Posted in General Posts by Monica Myers on 12/26/2009
Merry Christmas
First off I just want to say sorry for it being so long since my last blog...just been pretty busy!
So here it is My Christmas day and Eve in full length picture! The 24th came around and we were all making plans for our special Christmas day meals and there was a party at the church where we are staying. So we had to prepare food and gifts and the whole church by cleaning and all that!
So anyways that night all the people of this church came over and we ate really good food may I add together, and sang, laughed and just had such a good time together! Actually this church is more of an international church in ways...we have people from Finland, Nigeria, Ghana, Russia, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Hungary, America and of course Turkey...and maybe a couple more I cant remember! J  So they had each nationality group get up and sing a Christmas song from their country! The Americans, all the world racers sang Deck the Halls...with everyone of us on a different key! Sounded quite bad actually - haha - then after the singing we all sat around talking, taking pictures, laughing, ate more, and just hung out.
As we all hung out, many times throughout the night I would myself thinking about my family back home! Thinking about this being one of the first times I think...yep...that I wasn't around family for Christmas...and not really sad because I KNOW I was called by the Lord to be on this trip and that meant giving up Christmas with my family in Indiana! Right?!?! Yes!
So anyways back to the story...As I was thinking of this I started looking at each person in the room that night and realizing, as we all know, that each one of us had a story of why we were in this church in Turkey on Christmas Eve together...and that every person in the room was not with family - true blood family for Christmas...so just as I am not home.... and with my fam opening presents on Christmas Eve, having a big feast that sis and I planned all out together then going to grandma's house Christmas morning and helping her finish running around getting all the cooking done before all my cousins and aunt and uncle come over and getting to spend time the first Christmas with my two beautiful nieces, and just being able to see and be with family at this time....okay enough down memory lane...haha... Just as I was missing out on all of this everyone in the church was missing a piece of home too...and their family! But all together all of us made up an amazing family that brought glory to God in their laughter and songs! How awesome is this Monica...I thought to myself...you are not with your family you grew up with But God has blessed you to be with this even bigger family this year and celebrate His birth!!!
Really just one more thing I need to explain...stay with me here...So then Christmas morning came, and our team had an amazing brunch and did gifts, stockings. JThen I stayed home preparing dinner while mostly everyone went to skype family back home!  So I decided I would just call later since everyone else really really needed to go call and I knew my fam would understand...So after about 3 hours and some of preparation I got this huge Mexican feast completed and we ate it allllll up and boy was it mmm mmm good!!! After Dinner and debrief Austin and I had planned to go skype home and talk with family on this beautiful holiday since neither of us had yet but then....the doorbell rang!...Please tell me why were the first thoughts in my head, oh no, we're gonna have to entertain someone and I won't be able to skype home! And I found myself a little frustrated for 1 minute!
Then our African brother Jack from Nigeria rolled in and kinda explained he was having a bad night and was just walking around because all His friends wanted Him to go to a club but he thought it would be a better idea not to go...so stopped by here hoping to be encouraged and lifted up by his family! So in these quick seconds a lot went through my head saying....cool glad you came but I have plans to skype my family to say Merry Christmas! Then I said to myself WHO THE HECK ARE YOU and WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU??? Have you forgotten all the Lord has taught you?!?! God called you here...not to still be daydreaming and to be at home in your head and wishing you were there.....he brought me here to LOVE the people in this place and even in this very moment! 
Then a couple verses came to mind! One in Matthew 10:34-39 (alfjadfaodfijasodfiajdfoasjdfoj) I love my family dearly, praying for them daily, loving them more than I could express and they know this! But...the fact still remains I LOVE my Lord more than them! I Love Him with a deeper Love that no words or actions could express! So I must try by choosing His people He placed me amongst rather than wishing I was in another place! Then the verse in Luke 9:62 where He says "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God"....God has told me to go and I accepted so the decision was already made and I am plowing forward...so DO NOT look back and be sad or worried about Home when you have brothers and sisters right here to speak life into and celebrate God's birth and promises to us! AMEN!!!
It was a happy and beautiful evening...we ended up all praising the Lord in song and had such an amazing night of worship together celebrated God's goodness on His birth! J
Don't be sad back home I am having a beautiful and wonderful holiday here! LOVE you all VERY MUCH!!!
MERRY CHRISTMAS to all and to all a GOODNIGHT!!!
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Posted in General Posts by Monica Myers on 12/18/2009
HaPpY Birthday SiSaRoo!!!
SORRY this is late oh and there will be a video of how it goes...as soon as i get over my cold!!!
sister...you are sooo beautiful in both ways, inside you are full of joy and lov and compassion! You have overcome so much in your life and still have become an amazing woman. Danielle I wish I had words to tell you what it is exactly that God has planned for you and your family....but those you will discover as you grow, and live, and learn to be what andwho it is God has in mind for you! You have such a powerful testimony sister! USE IT! Really God wants you to use it, H wants you to have faith in Him and trust He will guide your words and your steps....you just have to keep opening your mouth and taking those steps! I just sit here on your birthday in TURKEY sad because I can't call you because we're on the internet fast and sad because I cant see you!! I am wondering what Maurice got or did for you, and what He had the girls get you or even what tons of things mom got and said Jayla and Ayana helped pick them out! Haha BUT most of all I sit here and think of how truly blessed I am to have you as my sister! I am blessed to have you because of who you are and have become and because I know you truly love me! I know we have both been through some crazy stuff but were there for eachother through it all! There is a bong with you that I share with no one else and I NEVER will because throuh the fighting of people we stuck by eachother's side through our mistakes, through the distance, and through it all we were and always will be by eachother's side! Thats not always true for sisters but as for you and me....I only see us get closer and deeper as the years get tacked onto our lives!..... Now.... I know my life is CRAZY sis, how I am never home with you guys really and if I am its only for a little while and I know you wish it could be all the time I would live right down the road and I know maurice is ready for me to move in...haha jk.....but really sister you and I both know I can't stay in one place for to long because I get a little ancy for what it is GOD has in store for me next! But just keep the prayers a comin so I get to make it back home for visits...because you know I wouldn't be doing any of it unless it was In God's will!!! Thank you for your 27 years of life...your 27 years of sister advice and 27 years of amazing LOVE to your dear lil sissy!!! and thank you for being an amazing woman of God to take care of and build up my bro and nieces!!!! I LOVE YOU SISTER!!!! LOVE - me - lil sis
- this is the song I wrote for you for your birthday! These are the lyrics so as you watch the video read along! I love you sister and I am praying for you constantly!!!! :-)))
Remember You have been Redeemed
Remember Where we used to live
Remember How I was afraid of the storms
Remember you told me to climb in bed with you...
Chorus: You looked like you could handle anything
But every night you cry yourself to sleep
You thought time could heal everything
But now you can say you have been redeemed!
But now you can say you have been redeemed!
Remember those endless nights
Remember how we would drown out the pain
Remember how you could talk me through anything
Chorus
Now you're the beauty of Christ
Now you're creating a love so deep
Now you're the strength that your family needs...
You looked like you could handle anything
But every night you pray yourself to sleep
You know God can heal everything
So now you can say I have been redeemed!
So now you can say I have been redeemed!
So now you can say, "I HAVE BEEN REDEEMED!!!"
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