Even When We Think It's Wrong, Part 2

I have to say, God had a lesson for me on this trip, one that I won't soon forget!  Yesterday, I was so disappointed with how it seemed things were turning out...  And not completely out of selfishness, Zack's really close friend and a sweet friend of mine from church and her son came on this trip and I just wanted it to be perfect...  granted, my idea of perfect...  And as usual, God's plan is FAR better than we ever imagine!

Today was one of the sweetest, most incredible days I've ever spent in Swaziland.  It started with a great devotion to look for God in the small moments...  the whispers...  And that's where I found Him all day long!!

Since we couldn't do the TOMS shoe distribution today, and we finished our planting yesterday, all we could do was play and talk to the men and women in the community all day!  Wow...  WOw...  WOW!!

Here are just some of the highlights of the day...  Zack's friend, C., playing guitar and singing How Great Is Our God...  Oh Happy Day...  And so much more!  And them singing with us!!  Children running to hold your hand or giving you a great big smile because you stopped to 'see' them!  Sweet conversations with the women in the community, spending special time with my Swazi sister, M.J. and getting to know the other women even better too...  Watching the young people on our team love on the children and youth of the community...  literally pouring themselves out and shining the love of Jesus!  A visit to a woman who has become very dear to me over the last 3 trips and who is very ill...

That story deserves some special attention...  I have grown to love this gogo SO much...  Her hugs engulf you, she dances with me when we worship, and during church, she pulls me onto the bench right among the other women of the church...  I just love her!

But today, as I watched and watched for her, she never came...  So I asked MJ about her and found out she is very sick.  And then we learned she is home from the hospital and we went to visit her...  Words will never express the sweetness of what we experienced...  The Swazi women walking in the door singing to her, beautiful praises to Jesus...  And then praying for her...  Praying like I don't hear at home...  Pouring themselves out on behalf of their sweet sister...   And then getting to wrap my arms around her and pray for her also...  If we had done the TOMS shoes today, that never would have happened.  Even when we think it's wrong, it may be PERFECT!!  And it was!!  But please, if you think of E., say a prayer for her healing.

I can't believe this trip is coming to an end... The time here just grows sweeter each time, their love is so tangible, Jesus is so evident in them...  They are just so special.  Tomorrow is our last day here, we leave on Monday...  I am not ready!

Even When We Think It's Wrong...

Just yesterday, our VERY wise friend, E., said, "Even when we think it's wrong, it may be right."  It's almost like God left those words ringing in my heart to prepare me for today.  It's not that today was bad, it was actually a really sweet day, but it just didn't go as planned.

When we arrived, we received some sad news, the pastor's sister-in-law passed away and Pastor and his wife had to leave to go to the funeral.  They had to leave early today and they won't be there tomorrow at all.  I love spending time with them and now it will be such a short time.  But more than that, I had an idea of what this trip would look like...

I thought today we would get to go into the community and meet some families... I thought tomorrow we would do the TOMS shoes distribution...  And I thought Sunday would just be a sweet day of worship and feeding many of the children from the community...  I... I... I... thought...  Many are the plans of a man's heart BUT God directs our paths! 

Today one of the women from the church brought her young son who was so sick.  He's been throwing up and diarrhea for over a week.  But she didn't have the money to take him to the hospital.  Do you know how much she needed for the bus ride and the hospital?  70 Rand...  that's a little over $10!!  $10!!  Yes, she's at the hospital tonight with her son!  Do you know if we had followed my plan, we would have been out in the community at a home?  We would not have been where God needed S, one of our team members, to see this sick child.

I have no idea what these next two days hold...  Tomorrow we will play with the children all day!  And Sunday we will worship, put shoes on possibly more than 400 children and feed them.  I have no idea how ALL of that will happen in the few hours that we have, but God is the author of time, so He can stretch the minutes!  

I am thankful that God sees so much more of the picture than I do and that even when I think it's wrong, it's really just perfect!

Speechless!

I'm not even sure how to describe today...  In many ways I was a spectator, in the right place at the right time to see the hand of God...  But I was a participant too and it's one of those days I never want to forget...

The morning began with a devotion and time of prayer.  As we circled up for prayer, I wrestled with the idea of asking that God would put someone in our path that needed to be seen by Him.  I wrestled because those are the things I read about in books, or on other blogs, but I honestly didn't think God would answer a prayer like that for me...  But I stepped out in faith and that was my prayer request for the day.

Backtrack...  8 years ago, mom and another member of our team, Stan, made their first trip to Swaziland.  On that trip, they met a lady, I'll call her B...  my mom has never forgotten her.  Every time we visit her village, my mom asks about her.  She even has our friend E. call and ask about her from time to time.  But she has never seen her again.

Fast forward...  today we were so blessed to pick up the son and daughter of the family we were visiting so they could go with us.  And as we neared their home, mom and Stan saw a woman who had fallen by the side of the road.  As Stan was about to ask the driver to back up to help her, my mom asked the son about B and he said, "that was her."

After 8 years, God literally put her in our path!  I never imagined that God's answer to my prayer and heaven's bear hug for my mom would be one and the same!  He truly does work in wonderful ways!  The coolest part, when mom got out of the van, she squinted up at my mom and said, "I remember you!"  She is 100 years old!

My faith is so small far too often!  I am so thankful for days like today when God leaves me speechless with wonder!

A Hug From Heaven!

The God who sees...  The God who provides...  The God who loves...  The God who laughs...  I have experienced so many facets of God's character today and what a GRAND adventure it was!!

This is my favorite story though...  Today we visited two homesteads in the community surrounding Heart For Africa's Project Canaan.  When we do the visits, one of the many things we do is to take a couple of items of clothing for each family member.  You'd think I'd learn by now, but I'm always concerned that we'll have the right size items for the children there, we never want one to leave empty handed, and they never do.

But today was really special...  Our list said that one of the children was a 7 year old girl, but in reality, the child was a 7 year old boy instead.  Most of the children's clothing our team had brought was for babies and toddlers, so we were really short on school children's clothing.  But last night, a member of another team gave us a couple of extra items (just in case)...  Yep, you guessed it, the items were shirts that perfectly fit a 7 year old boy!

But the moment that just made my heart sing was when I realized that we had the greatest jacket and t-shirt for the young woman who was caring for her mentally disabled brother and the children in the home.  She had the most beautiful heart.  She was such a GREAT caretaker for him and it was one of those times when you just wish you could give someone the moon because they are so special...  That was this young woman. She didn't ask for anything for herself, but when I handed her an aqua blue jacket and coral t-shirt, you would have thought she won the lottery!  She was SO excited and SO grateful!  And it hit me...  my mom brought that jacket and when she packed it, she had no idea what joy it would bring to a young woman, but God did!

He saw...  He loved...  He gave her a hug from heaven!  And we just got to stand by and watch it all unfold!

Sawubona!

In the story of Hagar in Genesis 16, we find where God met Hagar in the desert of her suffering and this was her response, "So she called the name of the LORD who spoke to her, 'You are a God of seeing,' for she said, 'Truly I have seen Him who looks after me.'"

Hagar found the courage to persevere because she was confident and strengthened that God saw her.  Today, we are going to visit and spend time with two families whose situations are very dire.  As I think about this day, I can't help but consider the traditional Swazi greeting, how we will greet each family...  Sawubona...  it means 'I see you.'

At the heart of all of us is a desire to be seen, to be recognized.  We will not change situations today, we may offer a small comfort with a new pair of shoes, or a jacket.  We may help provide some food by planting a garden with them, but we will not be able to take them out of their desert of suffering and dramatically change their situation.  But we can follow the example of our Abba Father, and assure them that they are seen.  Not by us, but by Him...  The one that truly matters...  the one who gives each of us value!

I pray that today each member of the family will feel the love of Jesus and know for certain that the God of the Universe has not forgotten them, that He sees them and loves them beyond their wildest imagination!

I am so thankful that I love my God who sees!

An Unexpected Convergence...

Converge:  v. to come together from different directions...  That perfectly describes this trip for me, so far...  When I think about the events in my life that led to the last three days, it was definitely an unexpected convergence!

My life in the US, 50 weeks of every year and my 2 weeks in Swaziland each year, have often felt like two very different lives.  But for the last three days, there have been many times I've forgotten where I was.  For the most part, it's been like a normal day at home...  The creative process...  I sit down, start a jewelry piece...  see another bead that grabs my attention and sparks an idea...  chase that squirrel for a while and eventually find my way back to the original project (or find it in the state I left it in, sometimes days later!).

And that's exactly how I would characterize my last few days in Swaziland.  Beading from sun up to well past sun down...  A mess every where I worked...  For hours at a time, I would zone out in the creative process, but every once in a while, I would look up, look around and remember where I am...

AFRICA...  sleeping in a room with a thatched grass roof...  smashing unwelcome critters in my room (thankfully small ones by Africa standards)...  listening to noises of creatures I can't even begin to identify and a warning sign about a crocodile in my room (the sign was in my room, not the crocodile!)...  Definitely not the usual beading day in the suburbs.

But wow...  never in a millions would I have even thought to imagine these last few days!  It has been wonderful.  I love how God is always working and weaving events together in our lives and we just never know where the paths will converge.  The journey of faith is definitely a GIANT adventure!

Before I Was Formed...

As I'm hanging out in Johannesburg, waiting for tomorrow (SWAZILAND!!!!), I am reflecting back on the words that Pastor Maseko said to our team when we were there last year.  They were profound and it seems the perfect lens to put on as I start another trip...

He quoted from Jeremiah 1:5, "before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born, I set you apart..."  He went on to tell us that before we were formed, God had set us apart for THAT day in his community... that while we were still in our mother's womb, God had a purpose and a plan for us in Swaziland!  I had chills as he spoke to us that day.  That truth brings so much peace!  I don't have to fret and worry about anything, God has a plan and a purpose for me and He will accomplish it!

And as I look to tomorrow and my time back in Swaziland, I am blessed to know that before I was born, God had a plan and a purpose for these days too... that each experience in my life has been a building block to prepare me for the people that I will meet and serve for these next 10 days!  My only responsibility is to wait, watch and obey (under an umbrella of prayer of course!)  I CAN'T wait to see what God has in store for this trip!   

Next stop Swaziland!!