New Life

I rarely know where a blog post is going until I start. Sometimes I have no words and I just sit here staring at a blank page, other times I just list the things that are happening around me, sometimes I pour out my heart and right now I am just explaining the process. I could tell you about all the things that have happened over the last two weeks, its been kinda crazy, but I'm not feeling that right now. I will try to give that type of update soon. So I want to share a little about me, the world and God. I had an awesome opportunity to stand embracing Juliana (we just built her a house) while a mission group gave her a life changing gift that will help her start her baking business. Juliana was crying, the group was crying, everyone was praising God and I was translating. Later that night, I was debriefing with the group and every person shared their life altering reactions to the earlier experience. When they got to me I was completely honest with the group and I told them "I was happy for everything but I didn't feel anything and I'm not ok with that." I left that night and prayed for the Lord to soften my heart and allow me to feel what He is feeling for the world around me. The next 24 hours was packed with feelings of pain, brokenness, and frustration. I was thinking about the family situations I work within here, the kids who have no support, the people who are being abused around me, and the fear that many people live in. Then to top all of off, I was sitting in traffic next to a dog on the street who was abandoned, filthy, hungry and had a broken leg that was literally dangling from skin. No one was going to take care of this dog, no one even acknowledged its existence and I was overwhelmed with how dark and lost the world truly is. It was a heavy day and I felt extremely burdened by all of this. Be careful what you pray for. That night Kendall and I were sitting with a sick girl, Maricela, from her Children's Home at the hospital. We were sharing with her the story of Peter walking on the water to Jesus when she stopped me to tell me about her encounter with the Lord. She said, "one night I was sleeping and I had a dream. Jesus came to me in my dream and told me to go to church the next night. So I went to church where they were having a conference and I received a new life. I left and was a new person." Amen, Amen, Amen!!! I let that process for a minute and the Lord spoke to my heart. He said, "you can't fix all of this but I can." God doesn't want us to be burdened by the darkness of this world we do need to feel the pain and brokenness just to know what is at stake and the reality of the battle but we also must be celebrating in Gods plan and his goodness. God doesn't need us to do this but he has given us the opportunity to be a part of this amazing story. He offers us a role in the most amazing story ever written. God is good, he gave Maricela new life simply because he loves her. This world is full of corruption, injustice, pain and other sucky situations but God carries that burden. Ask God to show you his heart and to open your heart to truly feel the world around you. It will stir you to jump into his plan to rescue the world. He wants all to have new life!!!