when I see you - I see me

I can almost feel the tears wet on your cheeks.

Sticks and stones break bones, and you've been lucky to avoid that kind of pain. But unlike the old rhyme, names and words cut deeper than flesh, leaving wounds that may take a lifetime to heal. What was it this time?  Fatso?  Ugly?  Stupid?  You've heard the words often enough that you begin to believe them, and worse, you think you're the only one deserving of such teasing.

I can almost taste the salt of those tears.  And the sting of isolation.  You are certain that you are all by yourself. But know this, little me. You are not alone, have never been, alone.  God is beside you, holding you even as you shake with sorrow.  He is molding you, preparing you to become the me that writes these words.

Years will teach you that some of what was said was true. You are not like everyone else.  But you will grow to celebrate all the ways in which you are unique.  One day someone will speak words of pure truth over you that will bathe all of those scars:

You are not different, you are set apart.
By Him and for Him.
His design with which He is well pleased.
And loved, oh so very loved.

Want to help a little life know the love of both God and man?  Consider sponsoring a child today.

I can hardly believe that it has been a year since I joined in Compassion Blog Month 2012.  God moved hearts and many children found love and care through those who began new sponsorships. While it was a joy to see love in action the needs are still great.

The goal this year is to get 3,160 children sponsored online by 11:59 p.m. mountain time on September 30.

joining Emily and the imperfect redeemed

September draws near

September is Blog Month at Compassion, an opportunity for bloggers everywhere to let their voice ring loud with the heartbeat of Jesus as we strive to find sponsors for at least 3,108 children.

We will be given writing challenges to spark our posts, plus giveaways and prizes.  Read more about what next month will bring on Compassion's blog.

As for me, the greatest prize is knowing that in some small way I can help children know the love of our Lord through the hands and hearts of those who would choose to sponsor.

Stay tuned for more as September rolls in, and pray about how God would have you participate.

 

End the waiting

I have never known many things you know
what its like to go to school
or hold a book in my hand
how it would feel
to not have constant hunger
gnawing away inside
or wonder if today is the day that I will die

I have spent all of my days in poverty.
But God loves His children
so He sent Compassion to a church near my home

There are so many benefits Compassion provides:

educational opportunities
health care and health-related instruction
good nutrition
and life-skills training
all this wrapped up in the love of Jesus
and the chance to hear the Good News of His Kingdom.

My parents took me to this church.
They asked lots of questions about me and my family, they even took my picture.
Then they told me I was officially registered.

That was an exciting day, not only would I get to receive all of these blessings
but they told me I would be connected to a special person
a sponsor from far away who has so much love in their heart
that they would want to share it with someone like me.

I was registered, but I had to wait for someone to sponsor me.

So I waited
and I waited
and I waited...
wondering if there is something wrong with me
no sponsor has chosen me yet
so I wait still...

When you see a heart in the lower left-hand corner of a sponsor child's picture, it means that particular child has been waiting for a sponsor for nearly six months - at least 180 days.

You can be the answer to the questions of worthiness that haunt a child like the one I wrote about above.



Compassion International offers you the opportunity to sponsor a child who has been waiting for six months or longer. 
Visit Compassion's website by clicking here to explore this chance to share your heart and your help.

Sponsor a child today and receive a free Compassion scrapbook. This scrapbook will be a great way to organize all the letters and photos you receive from your sponsored child. Just make your first payment today with your credit or debit card to receive this free gift. This offer is only available to citizens of the United States.

But the greatest gift is what you will receive in return, the joy of knowing the impact you have made in the life of a hurting and waiting child.


 

Word Filled Wednesday - Children

Jesus said,

“Let the little children come to me,

and do not hinder them,

for the kingdom of heaven

belongs to such as these.” 

 Matthew 19:14 NIV

Visit Internet Cafe Devotions for more stunning combos of pictures and the Word

 

Word Filled Wednesday - Little Child

Our granddaughter

  Whoever will humble himself therefore

and become like this little child

[trusting, lowly, loving, forgiving]

is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 

Matthew 18:4 Amplfied

 



Visit Internet Cafe Devotions for more Word Filled picture posts.







In the blood

Like a river
propels leaves
twigs, debris
downstream
as it flows
so is life
carried
in the blood
generation follows
generation
the curve of a smile
how the eyes see
a laugh
so familiar
it turns the heads
of those who hear

Life brings life
from ashes
rebuilds joy
renews hope
the blood beating
fresh rhythms
an invitation
to the dance.

Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD.  And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse. Malachi 4:5-6 NKJV

Come see all the other Wednesday One Shots at One Stop Poetry

Imperfect Prose - Snippet

I'm accepting a large dose of the Lord's courage and boldness and sharing a bit of my NaNoWriMo work-in-progress. It certainly qualifies as imperfect prose.

Instead of turning on the television Jessie opened her new Bible. She re-read the verses she had already read in Johnny’s Bible and they did seem to be a little bit easier to understand. “Maybe I’m not too dumb to get it” she thought. “Maybe I can learn what it all means.”

But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.

If she became a child of God, that would mean that God would be her father. Jessie closed her eyes and tried to imagine what it would feel like to know that God was her father, but because she never knew a father she couldn’t put the pieces together. She never knew that a father should love you; she only was told that a father leaves you.

She had a night filled with dreams of babies and fathers coming and going. Some of the babies were taken home and others were left behind. There were babies that screamed and babies that were silent. In the dreams Jessie was trying to unlock the secret of which babies were loved but there was no predictable pattern to it. It seemed to have nothing to do with the babies and everything to do with the men who were supposed to be their fathers.

In the last dream of the night, all of the babies that had been left behind grew up very quickly and as adults, all of them were holding up signs with writing in different colours that said “There is something wrong with me.”

Jessie woke up thinking “That’s exactly how I feel, but if it wasn’t the babies’ faults then maybe it wasn’t my fault either.”

“I wouldn’t jump to any conclusions if I were you” said the voices, though they sounded a bit muffled.

“Maybe I was already jumping to conclusions” she answered back “and they were the wrong ones.”


Stop by Emily's In the Hush of the Moon to read more or perhaps even share some of your own words imperfect.

Keep my eyes open, Lord

Cover via Amazon

One hundred jetliners crashing every day, day after day after day. Hundreds of thousands of lives lost. That would surely make the media and the world take notice, right?

That many lives and more are lost each day to illness, starvation, the ravages of poverty. Lives ended one at a time, so silently that our comfortable lives do not feel the whisper of their passing.

Richard Stearns discusses this in Chapter 9 of The Hole in Our Gospel, leaving my heart broken again, gasping for air, on my knees asking the Lord how I can keep myself attentive to things my flesh would rather turn away from.

I may not be able to help the millions, but show me how to bring comfort, provision, life, to one at a time. Help me see the faces in the big picture, and to see the big picture in the eyes of each one.

This chapter makes me dislike myself, and for that I say "Thank you, Mr. Stearns. Thank you."

Come join the discussion this week at Sarah M. Salter's Living Between the Lines.

Word Filled Wednesday - His simple commandments

At that time Jesus said, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Matthew 11:25 NIV

Help me Lord I pray to have the childlike faith You require of me, that I would hear, see and recognize the simplicity of Your call:

Love God: Jesus said to him, “ ‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. Matthew 22:37-38 NKJV

Love others: And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” Matthew 22:39-40 NKJV

Go. Share the good news and make disciples so that others will do the same: Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." Matthew 28:18-20 NIV

Stop by for more Word Filled Images at Internet Cafe Devotions

I am also linking up with Sarah, Jason and others discussing Chapter 5 of Richard Stearns The Hole In Our Gospel. To read the thoughts of others, visit Jason's place.

Sheep or Goat?

Cover via Amazon

This week Sarah, Jason and more of us are reading Chapter 4 of The Hole in Our Gospel by Richard Stearns.

Stearns discusses one of my favourite and also most sobering scenes of Jesus:

When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'

"They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'

"He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'

"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."
Matthew 25:31-46 NIV

My prayer has always been that I would draw close enough to my Lord to feel the beating of His heart and in so doing, my heart would be moved and broken by anything that stirs Him. I have wondered what would the least of these look like? Would I walk right past a hungry Jesus because I did not recognize Him?

Born, raised and still living in North America, I know that even those of us in the worst situations are rich beyond measure compared to third world nations, yet we still have those who are the least of these. Help us Lord to seek what You would have us do.

Then Richard Stearns proceeds to paint a picture of one of his own encounters with the least of these, young men that had been kidnapped and turned into rebel soldiers by the LRA in Northern Uganda. I could hardly read through my tears, for my heart had been likewise torn when I was right there in Gulu in 2007, visiting a similar rehabilitation centre.

Here are words I journaled while in Uganda:

The other evening the shapes in the clouds looked to be God’s hands reaching down from the heavens, and surely God’s hand IS on this nation. There is a stirring, a shaking, a hope in the midst of desolation. When God is all there is then God is enough. If anything else is placed above Him, then nothing is enough. He is, as He says in His Word, a jealous God, and He will have no other gods before Him. I believe and I will declare that His favour will rest upon this place.

The heart of Uganda appears in the faces of the children; smiles in the midst of deprivation, laughter rising up from a belly never filled with food enough. Tears of need and tears of sorrow, but joy returning upon the simplest act of kindness.Can we learn to need so little? Our hope could be their hope – to find our strength and joy in Him alone. It is as if they already do so, even those that cannot tell you why.

Oh Uganda, release yourself into His hands. “Pearl of Africa” is what a local billboard called you. Shine with the luster of a pearl polished by the Master’s hand. Shine as a witness to the darkness. Shine in the light of His love that more would be drawn to the light. Blossom and prosper as a sign even to the “first world” nations – “Look what our God can do”

Here I find a stillness. Here I find a peace. Here perhaps I will find a pathway that leads me to the heart of God.

I pray that the scent, sound and sights of Uganda do not leave me until I return again to do whatever God calls me to.

Stop by Sarah's Living Between the Lines to read the thoughts other people share about Chapter 4.

For the children of Gulu Uganda

Bridget Chumbley's One Word at a Time Carnival this week is the word Children. I am reposting words that i wrote for the children in Gulu, Uganda when Rick and I walked among them in December 2007.

Gulu children lost and forgotten,
living terrified in paradise.
Cannot trust in man. Cannot trust in God.
Will your silent cries fill the air around me?
Will the blood cry out?
Will the blood cry out?
Will needless shame cast your eyes down
as you pay for the sins of generations past?
Tender flowers picked too soon.
Young butterflies forced to fly
on wings that have not yet dried.
Will your hearts learn to heal?

I am leaving you now and returning to a life that you have never known. A life of safety and shelter. A life of peace and plenty. To days of freedom and nights without fear. Yes, it seems I am leaving you now but much of my heart will stay here. And on the rest of my heart, that part that remains with me, you are forever inscribed, etched by the hand of our Father. It is He Who brought me here. It is He Who shall bring me here again.

Join us for more words about children this week.

Word Filled Wednesday - Pass it on!

Just make sure you stay alert. Keep close watch over yourselves. Don't forget anything of what you've seen. Don't let your heart wander off. Stay vigilant as long as you live. Teach what you've seen and heard to your children and grandchildren. Deuteronomy 4:9 The Message

Join us here at our new home at Internet Cafe Devotions

I miss being here

I am resurfacing from a time of fever and illness that had me in a fog, unable to read, write, think...

While I am trying to get my thoughts sorted I'll share a few photos from the days prior to the "yuck bug" hitting me.

Here's our beautiful Aurora Rae enjoying Easter Sunday afternoon here at our place - now also known as Grandma and Grandpa's house.

Easter Monday we were blessed to spend the day with Aurora and her parents, driving through the National Park (where we found many deer grazing along the road) en route to Brandon for a day of shopping and walking in the warm air at the Discovery Centre seeing the ducks and geese that have returned. We enjoyed spicy chinese food, ice cream and the fun of time spent getting to know each other better and the opportunity to speak life, encouragement and wisdom into those we so dearly love.

Only take heed, and guard your life diligently, lest you forget the things which your eyes have seen and lest they depart from your [mind and] heart all the days of your life. Teach them to your children and your children's children-- Deuteronomy 4:9 Amplified

The Day After Christmas

It's the day after Christmas. I woke this morning with a vague sense of heaviness that I knew was not my own. In the stillness of the morning I asked the Lord what it might be that I was feeling.

"You are feeling the sadness, the let-down, the weariness and depression that has come upon my lost ones" I sensed Him reply.

So I find myself praying for all those who shopped and wrapped and decorated and celebrated a holiday, but not the reason for it. After all of their preparations and expectations, today dawned. There is nothing left to do but make trips to stores to exchange and return gifts. Nothing ahead but the cleaning up and storing away of the sparkle and glitter that had no substance at all.

"While I allow you to feel their sense of loss and emptiness, little one, you do not live there, for you are Mine, and I have planted a seed of hope in you that continues to grow. You know what you know. So as you intercede, take heart in the victory of My overcoming."

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it. John 1:15 NIV

For those of us called by His name comes an understanding that Christmas day is never an ending, but merely a glorious beginning.

Praying for the next generation

In spite of (and because of) the spirit of heaviness that continues to hover around me due to the illnesses of my parents and the unstable state of their eternities, I am choosing to spend the weekend praying for the new generation being raised up in our churches.

We are hosting Becky Fisher of Kids In Ministry International at our church as she teaches, equips and releases parents, teachers, leaders and most of all our kids into the callings of God.

Becky's passion and mission is teaching children to hear the voice of God. Perhaps there is no better gift we can give them this Christmas.