My Best Friend is Eight & God's Plan is Perfect....

When I was about seven years old I began faithfully praying for a baby brother. I guess my parents thought it would be a temporary request, but as I continued to daily pray, my mom finally told me it just wasn't possible. It didn't stop me, and the prayers kept coming. I specifically remember one day standing in our church fellowship hall when I was talking to one of my Sunday School teachers about this desire of my heart, and she encouraged me to keep praying. My mom hearing the conversation told her ... don't encourage that... It is absolutely impossible. My teacher responded, "you don't know that." 

A few years later my mom felt as if God was calling her to have another child. Like I mentioned before, it was "impossible." What else was impossible was my mom convincing my dad this thought was from the Lord. 

A few years later my dad too felt like God was calling them to have another child. Like I mentioned before, it was "impossible." 

The investigation began, and soon after my mom took part in a newly available surgery that would attempt to make impossible, possible. 

In December of my 7th grade year, my parents asked me and my sister, Janna,  if we would like to open a early Christmas present: duh we did! Somehow I knew what was happening because as I opened that small box, my body shook all over in anticipation. When we opened our boxes there was a picture of a perfect gift from God... a sonogram picture. I cried tears of joy and immediately began counting the days until this baby's arrival. 

On July 20th, 2004 Daniel Trent Ellinwood was born. This precious boy I had prayed for since I was a little girl. A precious boy that God wanted so badly in this world, He directly spoke to both my parents and allowed some scientist somewhere to discover this amazing procedure that would get him here. 

If you know Trent, you know what a special child He is. He is the most compassionate person I know. He is the most loving person I know: I am convinced no one on this earth will ever have the ability to love me more than he does. At 8 years old, He loves the Lord with all his heart. He is encouraging  and so often lifts the spirits of others. He faithfully prays heart-felt prayers that speak great measures of the power of God. 

This boy is one of the main reasons I cried like a baby the day I had to move into my freshman dorm room. He is one of the main reasons still, four years later, cry every time I leave Elizabeth City and have to come to Raleigh. He is one of the main reasons that my heart breaks when I think about all the moments and memories I will miss out on when I live across the world in Africa. 

He also is a main reason that I understand the power of God. He is the main reason I know that NOTHING is impossible. 

I don't know why God so badly wanted Trent on this earth. I do know that that little boy is going to have a BIG impact on MANY peoples lives. I feel so honored to have him as a brother. 

The story goes on.... My junior year of high school.... SURPRISE.... another sonogram picture was presented and in April of 2008 Carson James Ellinwood was born. Though I didn't pray for him, He is such a blessing from the Lord, and is the most hilarious person I will ever know. 

And then the story kept going..... in July of 2011 we welcomed Jordan Nicole Butler into our family, and I daily feel blessed to have her as my sister. 

All this to say.... try to plan your life. I dare you. I also promise you... you can't! Gods plan is perfect and so far from anything we can ever even imagine. Don't limit Him, because His plan involves making the impossible the possible in your life! 

In this crazy time of confusion as I end one chapter of life and start the next, I just look at my family and am comforted. God is so so good, and His plan is perfect... way more perfect than mine. 

"But Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God ALL things are possible." - Matthew 19:26

"GOD'S WAY is perfect, All the LORD'S promises prove true. He is a shield for all who look to him for protection." - Psalm 18:30

"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart, I apointed you as a prophet to the nations." - Jeremiah 1:5 

Africa Love

A Perfect Injustice. 

 We love and serve a mighty and Perfect God who hates injustice and calls us as Christians to do something about it. Luke 18:7 tells us, "And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they receive justice, and quickly. But when the Son of man comes, will he find faithfulness on earth?"

One way "A Perfect Injustice" faithfully serves those who face injustice is through their women's program called the "Hope House." Women are rescued from prostitution and for a year learn skills such as budgeting, finances, and business ethics. They also gain knowledge of skills to help start their own businesses. Throughout the program they hand make jewelry and the organization buys it from them weekly. Part of their earnings they keep and part they are forced to save. Some women save more than others. By the end of the program they have enough money saved to start their own businesses and are able to put their newly learned skills to work. 

This jewelry line from "A Perfect Injustice" is called "Africa Love." Each piece of jewelry includes the hand written name of the woman who made it, a name that not only represents a perfect example of Injustice but also represents the perfect love of our perfect God, who rescued and restored her life. 

Included in this jewelry line are beaded headbands:  

Rachel wears her headband representing the perfect love God showed to a perfect injustice in the life of Beatrice. Beatrice, after completing the women's program, constructed and opened a small shop by her house to sell vegetables and other small goods. Her shop is small but because of its location she gets many and regular customers. She has recently purchased a small plot of land and is building a house on it slowly with her earnings from her shop. Beatrice is living her life for the glory of the Lord.

I wear my headband representing the perfect love God showed to a perfect injustice in the life of Grace (also known as Mama Cook!). After Grace completed the women's program and after learning to make a chicken coop from a friend, bought 250 chickens for 1,300 shillings each. After a month of raising these chickens, she sells them for 10,000 shillings each. Her business has been so successful that she recently hired a boy to work for her chicken farm. Currently, she is just selling chickens for meat but hopes to be able to sell eggs someday. Grace is living her life for the glory of the Lord. 

There are many stories just like these thanks to the way God is working through "A Perfect Injustice." Sadly, there are millions more stories that do not have a happy ending - yet.... 

Fight for Justice. 

If you would like to purchase "Africa Love" jewelry you can visit aperfectinjustice.com or contact me personally at aperfectinjustice4@gmail.com 

(If you are in Raleigh, stop by my house anytime to take a look. If you are in Elizabeth City, I will be coming your way in May) 

visit aperfectinjustice.com for more information 

The One Percent

The other day while I was riding on the Wolfline (NCSU bus system) I noticed this sign. It read, "Easter: Jesus in my Place, For a complete listing of NC State Faculty and Staff who sponsored this ad and who believe that Jesus died in our place, visit: ncsufaculltyCommons.org" 

Naturally, as a follower of Christ, I immediately got excited! I very quickly posted  it on twitter and texted a picture of the sign to many of my friends. All the responses were similar to mine as everyone said in many ways, "Praise God!" Soon, I saw this link making its way around social media as people got excited!

Like me,  everyone got a excited that there was believers on our campus. This simple website caused such a positive reaction for me and among many of my peers.

A few days later my view of this drastically changed. As I read through the list of faculty I meditated on the large amount of professors I have had in the past four years. Not one of those professors were on that list. More so, I didn't actually know any of the names on the list.

I then began to meditate on the amount of faculty listed.  There are 111 listed and over 8,080 faculty members on campus. That means that only one percent of them are proclaiming Christians. (Disclaimer: I am aware this list doesn't determine salvation. There are probably many not on the list and even people on the list, that maybe shouldn't be.)

Should we be excited? Yes, absolutely! Praise God for that one percent.

But we should let it motivate us. For me, it was convicting. Not one of my professors for the past four years, which is approximately 40  people, are on that list. Almost all of them I feel pretty certain do not know the Lord. How many of those 40 have I shared my faith with? How many cafeteria workers,  janitors, advisers, secretaries, and T.A.'s have I shared my faith with? The answer to these questions is embarrassing. Nauseating really. The answer is none of them. Not even one.

I am heart broken that there are only 111 faculty members who claim to know Jesus. I am heart broken that I have taken advantage of this amazing mission field God has placed me on, right here at North Carolina State University. 

Praise God for the one percent, but let us be prayerful and intentional with the other 99.9 percent.

Lets make His name known on this campus. Lets pray that list is substantially larger by next Easter.

"And pray for me, too. Ask God to give me the right words so I can boldly explain God’s mysterious plan that the Good News is for Jews and Gentiles alike." -Ephesians 6:19

That One Time in Walmart.....

The night before any Holiday tends to be a hectic time for my family. For example, I am pretty positive that my parents stay up all night long on Christmas Eve wrapping presents. This Easter was no exception, which is why me and my father were on our way to Walmart at 11pm Saturday night to buy groceries for the next days meal along with baskets so the Easter bunny could come!

Has anyone ever told you "nothing good ever happens after 10!"? Well, i am pretty sure they may be accurate. We were on the bread aisle where we were having much trouble finding BBQ bread (southern fam probs). We were searching the shelves high and low, him on one end of the aisle and me on the the other. I eventually gave up and began walking towards him when I saw that he was talking to four very ghetto and very intoxicated guys. It didn't take long for me to figure out it wasn't a conversation I wanted them to be having. Though I didn't hear the initial conversation I did hear "don't be stupid" come out of my dads mouth, saw one guy grab the other and drag him away, and then me and my father started walking in the other direction. As he began to tell me about what was going on the guy screamed, "who ya talkin about?!" To which my dad responded, "YEAH, YOU!" I still wasn't sure what was happening, but I was sure of the fact I did not want my dad talking to them.

Come to find out, he had overheard them talking about me in what I am assuming was a inappropriate way. I was absolutely shocked that he said something to them. For one, my dad is one of the most gentle and compassionate people I know, so this was out of character. Also, I was probably shocked because if it was me I would have thought it would be smarter not to say anything at all. More specifically, I would have been scared to death to open my mouth. More than shocked, I felt so loved. I know that my dad has protected me over the years, but I can't think of any other time were I have seen him put himself in harm to protect me. I can't help but smile thinking about it now.

Many people use Christianity to provide hope to those who are fatherless. To ensure them if they don't have a earthly father they have a heavenly Father who loves them more than anyone ever could. That is not me. Instead, I am blessed enough to have a father who points me to the Love of my heavenly Father. A father who loves like the Father who loves him.

So while I have often thought about the my Walmart experience the last few days and was shocked that my dad protected me like that, I start to ponder, why am I so shocked?

These thoughts led me to this: In the next year I will be taking a journey in life that is kind of scary and maybe a little unsafe. If I think about it for too long, I get really scared and even question if I should carry it out or not. Then I remember: I have a father who loves me. A father who is willing to put himself in harm for me.

How do I know? The next day after this Walmart fiasco, we would celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. The same man who died on a cross for me.

My heavenly father sent His only son to die for me. To rescue me from myself. Yet, I somehow doubt the fact He will protect me?

The same love I felt from my father who so willingly stepped into danger for my well-being is just a small taste of the love my God can and will provide!

How blessed am I to have a God who loves and cares for me? How blessed am I to have a earthly father who so often points me to that perfect love?

"But He was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed." -Isaiah 53:5 


"For He will rescue you from every trap and protect you from deadly disease. He will cover you with his feathers. He will shelter you with his wings. His faithful promises are your armor and protection." --Psalms 91:3-4

Boston Bombing: Our Natural Response.

This blog is not about the bombing in Boston. For that, I have no words. My heart is heavy and my mind confused as I ask the question everyone is asking themselves, "why?" It is the same question we asked when the twin towers fell, when dozens of children lost their lives sitting in their classrooms, when innocent people lost their lives sitting in a movie theatre, and unfortuantely, the list goes on and on.

I can't answer this question of "why" which is why this blog post is not about the bombing in Boston. But this I can tell you with complete confidence. This I tell you in hopes that you too will believe:

As hearts broke across our nation at the news of the tragedy, what did we immediately do in response? We prayed. Almost all of the interviews of Boston Marathon runners have included, "all I knew to do was pray." Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and every other source of social media has blown up with the words, "Pray for Boston." I am not just talking about proclaiming christians either.... I am suggesting that the large majority of all types of people resorted to prayer. If you haven't already noticed, the large majority of our nation are not proclaiming christians. Not even close.

One of the most common reasons why people chose to reject christianity is the question, "why does God let bad things happen?" At least, that is what they claim.

But what is our immediate response when these bad things happen? It is to pray. But, why?

Romans 1:19-20 says,

"For what can be  known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.  For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature,  have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse."

Our Nations response to this tragedy is simple proof there is a God! A God who each person acknowledges without even realizing it. A God who desperately wants to know the lost people who are currently seeking him!

Let us pray for Boston. Let us pray for this Nation. But most importantly, let us pray the Gods presence be known,  and that through this pain, His kingdom will be advanced.