Don't Miss the Blessings in Life

The first three months in Ghana and my last month were the toughest.  There were some days that I was so lonely and miserable that if I could have left I would have mistakenly rejected God’s call and the blessing He was about to give me. I would not have voluntarily gone through the moments of loneliness, heat rashes, ring worm, malaria, skin fungus, being hungry, etc. I would have never known just how much God would use those things to bring me closer to Him. I remember sitting on my bed and thinking… God why would you allow me to have all of these things when I came here to help these children?  He answered me instantly, you asked me to give you compassion for them and now you have it, you understand what they are going through and you are sympathetic. 

Romans 8:  I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared to the glory which will be revealed in us.

What is more beautiful than the heart of God?  Nothing is greater than having Him give you a glimpse of His heart, to touch you in a way nothing else can.  I have heard the saying that the eyes are gates to the soul and I believe it is true. I have seen a smile that I knew was a blanket covering pain,  a child’s eyes smiling in the midst of hunger, in the midst of the sorrows poverty lavishes on them.  The smile of the eyes came when I was holding them in my lap, kissing their forehead and telling them I love them, showing them God’s heart.

There were times in Africa I was so lonely, longed for the smells of home, missed the faces of my beautiful grandchildren, my daughters and sons and cried out to God to comfort me, to take away the despair I was feeling and replace it with His love, His visions, His heart. He heard my cry and has answered me. In my toughest moments of feeling so weak and wanting to give up He carried me, He gave me a love for those children like the love I have for my own, He has put dreams and visions in my heart of what it could be like for them and a desire to help make it happen.  He is an unfailing God.  In those times when I asked Him where He was He was sitting right next to me waiting for me to remember the promises in His word and to rest in them.  He is the refiner and becoming more like Him means that I will go through the fire. He is the restorer and allowing Him to use me brings light into a child’s world.  What an awesome thing!  I had lessons of how to rest in the assurance of who He is and have felt complete peace through many painful moments. The trials  He allows in my life are from a loving Father who knows me better than I know myself and knows exactly what I need.

I know that no matter where I am I will be tested.  I know that on every continent in this world there is someone hurting, someone lonely, someone depressed, someone hungry.  I know that no matter where I am I need to be Jesus to someone. Through every trial, tempest, storm we are waging war against the enemy and must have our eyes set on eternity.  We must be fixed and strive for the goal He has set before us. 

1 Timothy 6:12
Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

My favorite saying

He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep for what he cannot loose.