My India

Recently I've heard of many different people going on missions trip to different places.... Africa, India, Mexico.  I'm so proud of my friends and even of the people whom I don't know who obey God's call and go where He wants them too.  I am happy to hear about the changes that they undergo and the ways that their hearts are transformed by the time spent.  But, I have to be honest- I've also been somewhat envious.  I haven't been called to Africa or to India.  And if the call came in, I would probably have to clean up some cat barf before I was able to answer it, and then the machine would have picked up and I would have lost the call.  (Actually, I was talking to a friend on Saturday who is going to Kenya this summer and I confessed how homesick I would be if I was to go that far from home.)  And then today happened... 3 miles from my house... at Safeway... in my "neck of the woods".  A young girl about 20 years old, unshowered and hungry, sitting on  the curb with a sign asking for a miracle. For a split second I was going to drive by, and then I realized that my "India" was staring me in the face... and so we stopped.  And tonight prayed for a girl that needs so much more than I could ever given her.  And I believe that my heart is being transformed.  Praise you, Jesus, for opening my eyes to see You and my heart to hear that you could change me right here at home, Lord.  You know me so well and you met me right where You knew that I would see You today. You know how homesick I get.  You know that India is too far away for me right now.  Thank you for bringing it to me.  I pray that Your work will not be wasted on me.  

SuperSunday

We went to 2 churches on Sunday - our church and the Lutheran church where Meredith goes to preschool. She had a singing engagement there today with the rest of the preschool kids. She was so happy and excited that Marky and Maddie were going to be able to watch her sing. The last time, they weren't able to. This was a special thing today. After church, we had a very nice long afternoon just being together as a family. It seems like we don't have tons of times like this and I just wanted to squeeze every bit of joy out of it. The girls played the Wii and then cars with Michael; we watched some home videos of a few of our vacations. That was wonderful!!! We decided to take a walk to the park and ended up cutting it short because it was getting very cold. Maddie was prompted by the home movies to get a haircut; she was so excited to get it done. She thought it was pretty handy to just walk downstairs and sit right down in the chair. She hung her sweater and her hat on the hooks that I have in the salon and announced "I can hang those there because tonight I'm a client!" So, she got a new hairdo - her spirits have been soaring ever since! The day was a beautiful one!!

Pain

Today I heard of 2 different stories of pain and suffering  At this moment, a set of parents is waiting in the ICU as one of their daughters fights to stay alive.  Earlier today, these parents said goodbye to their other daughter when she went to be with Jesus in heaven.  The 2 sisters were in a car accident.  The other story was from a mama telling of her baby boy, stillborn at 36 weeks.  Neither of these families are near and dear to me, they are just stories I encountered today. But the pain is so real to the storytellers, and they are suffering.  I am struggling tonight with these stories of pain.  This morning I read from Psalm 91:1-2 - "Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty.  This I declare of the Lord: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; He is my God and I am trusting Him."  I still believe in what I read,  even though I wouldn't have a clue how to explain my belief to these hurting souls.  It is an unanswerable question, the one of "why do bad things happen to good people".  Someone much wiser than me would have to tackle that one.  The only thing I can offer is to humbly admit that"I don't know why", and also bravely proclaim "God loves you".  I put all of my trust in this.  I don't know what else there is.  Because my acquaintance to these stories is new and from a distant there is nothing more that I can do other than offer  prayers for them.  I believe that God is listening and He loves these people.  For my own burdened heart I will follow 

1 Peter 5:7 and "give all of my worries and cares to God, for He cares about what happens to me."