beauty here

there is beauty bursting forth

contrast of colour

against red dirt

weaver birds blazing 

yellow feathers and blue bills

jacaranda trees stretch 

lavender blooms against the sky

and the frangipani opening fresh

dripping sweetness

there is beauty bursting forth

here, and something new

being birthed

in our hearts

 

empty eggshell

Here at the Zambia base, one Saturday each month is devoted to prayer and fasting.

Today is the day.

We gathered corporately at 9 to worship before splitting into smaller groups to declare and pray The Word.  We began with Luke.

Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.  He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’

“For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’”

 And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off?  I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”  Luke 18:8-1-8 NIV

We were then given thirty minutes of personal time with the Lord, to pray about the condition of our prayer lives, repent of any prayerlessness or discouragement and ask that He would give us new strength, vigor and perseverance.

I took my chair out into the morning sun, and as I quieted myself before Him I saw my prayer life as an often empty shell.  Like an egg, when there is nothing inside to stand against external pressure the shell will shatter into tiny shards.  Yet when the shell is filled and solid, pressure from outside may crack but not destroy it.

I asked that the Lord would remind me to continually fill myself with His Spirit which He freely pours out to all who would receive   It is indeed my part to drink, my choice, my pleasure.

May I stay ever firm, solid, filled with His truth, His love and His light.

being still with Sandy

 

contrite spirits

lessons this week, have run deep

openness and brokenness

religion versus relationship

repentance

mixed with sessions of practical work

serving, cleaning, humble

bringing any haughty spirit low

no room for pride here

learning to love cross culturally

offering all of myself

as my spiritual act of worship

less of me and more of You, Lord

the cry of my heart

My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit;
    a broken and contrite heart
you, God, will not despise

Psalm 51:17 NIV

Going through the motions doesn't please you,
    a flawless performance is nothing to you.
I learned God-worship
    when my pride was shattered.
Heart-shattered lives ready for love
    don’t for a moment escape God’s notice.
Psalm 51:17 The Message

 

treading the red dirt

our feet are treading red dirt again

the hunger to be here intensified 

as we gazed out the airplane’s small window

“it has been seven years” I whispered to Rick

“yes, far too long’ he replied.

stuffed into a small transport vehicle

we bumped along the road between Lusaka

and Kabwe, and much of our view

matched our memories of Uganda

things are both familiar

and totally foreign 

in ways we did not experience during our last trip

perhaps because then we knew our time there was short

but now we are here

for two years, or more years

knowing that God is asking, encouraging

expecting us to adapt

we are in His hands

as always, walking by faith

but the sight in both glorious

and astounding