As I boarded the plane on Dec. 26 to take our family to Uganda, I got a text from my sister that spoke directly to my heart and continued to be the theme during the entire trip and has continued to speak to my heart upon coming home.
Text from sister Shauna: I see mothers cry out for their adult children to love the things of God when they are adults...But their hearts are far from His heart...And I believe that's because they were taught comfort and self love...The mother (with good intentions) taught them that. So as you take your children into the uncomfortable and self sacrificing world of poverty, I believe you are showing them and teaching them the heart of God. With that said...Go with joy that you are following Jesus example into the very heart of God. Every "risk" and dollar spent is worth that! I love you!!!
I asked the Lord one day as we were preparing to go to a slum if that was really what we were supposed to do....I really didn't want to go unless it was the Spirit leading us and the Lord was wanting to show us something. It's hard to see, and my tendency is to protect my kids from the suffering that is so prevalent there. It was a hot day and some people get very excited to see us, especially the kids, and then there are some people that don't want us in their territory and they are very angry and full of hate and they make it clear that they don't want us around. As I asked the Lord to guide us that day, it became very clear that if I want to have a heart for the poor or if I want my kids to have a heart for the poor, we have to GO and meet people and give the label "poor" a name and a face and it becomes TOTALLY different. It gets into our hearts and makes you see and read with a different heart and different eyes.
Proverbs 14:30-31English Standard Version (ESV)
30
A tranquil[a] heart gives life to the flesh,
but envy[b] makes the bones rot.
31
Whoever oppresses a poor man insults his Maker,
but he who is generous to the needy honors him.
Years ago, when I heard or read in God's Word about the "orphan" and His heart for the orphan...it really meant nothing to me...UNTIL I MET SOME "ORPHANS" personally, and learned their names and their faces and their stories. And when that happened it changed me. It made me understand they are beautiful children and needed love and a family and it wasn't just "sad" it was necessary to do something.
James 1:27English Standard Version (ESV)
27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.
Watching my kids walk through the slums and interact with kids and enjoy them made my heart sing!!! Reece was a star, and wore himself to exhaustion. He had fun just handing out candy and meeting kids. He told me he felt like we had a much bigger family now.
OPEN THE EYES OF MY HEART LORD!
Isaiah 58:10-11English Standard Version (ESV)
10
if you pour yourself out for the hungry
and satisfy the desire of the afflicted,
then shall your light rise in the darkness
and your gloom be as the noonday.
11
And the Lord will guide you continually
and satisfy your desire in scorched places
and make your bones strong;
and you shall be like a watered garden,
like a spring of water,
whose waters do not fail.
No comments:
Post a Comment