Find rest, O my soul, in God alone

Allow me to paint a picture for you: The road before you is rocky. The dirt is thick. At 8 years old you walk at dusk, holding the hand of your little brother. You know this path well.  This happens often--you leading him along the avenues through your neighborhood.  Even though you do this all the time, that familiar fear still consumes you.  He's not walking fast enough, but then again, he never does. You drag him along quickly, and your heart begins to heavily pound. Your mind starts racing, "I thought I had more time this afternoon. I wish auntie hadn't asked me to get the water so late again. Why does the sun have to set so quickly?" You quicken your pace. Still a mile left to go. You round the corner as darkness floods the street. The recognizable sound of loud rap music coming from the tavern reminds you of that dreadful night 3 months ago.  The vision fills your mind and your pace rapidly increases. Those drunk men whispering in your ear to come with them. ...

The other day I was at the Tree of Life school (Faith Christian Academy), visiting the teachers and checking on uniforms for the children.  I was walking around as I normally do, while hearing, "There's auntie Megan" from the children in their classrooms.  I passed each classroom in both blocks of the school.  As I turned the corner, I saw my sponsored boy, Joseph, down at the end of the walkway.  It's just another normal day so I didn't expect much from him after seeing me.  But I got a beautiful image that surprised, humbled, and comforted me. Since, I moved here in 2010, Joseph has gone through a long range of emotions.  He has gone from excited to shy to embarrassed to entitled to humbled and back to joyful again.  I have seen him shy away from me in front of his friends, and I'm not going to lie, the rejection hurt a bit.  I've seen him feel like he deserves more because his sponsor lives and works here.  I've seen him sit humbled at c...

My sweet LORD, Oh how I long to be in your presence, to sit before your feet.  To truly rest without the sin of this world in and around me.  Father, I wait for you.  I wait anxiously for you to come--I know it's soon.  As hard as it is to be away from home, I trust one thing: You are faithful.  You know more than I know.  You see more than I see.  Your ways are so much higher than mine.  I belong to you.  I desire for you to use my life to glorify you alone.  Lord, forgive me for my selfishness, forgive me for my anger, forgive me for living half in the world and half out. Forgive me for my doubt, my guilt, my complaints, my shame, my filth.  Jesus, on my knees I pray that you would make me a reflection of you.  Move me.  Guide me.  Use me. Break me. I see your love for these kids, I feel it.  Holy Spirit, consume the homes of these sweet children.  Prepare their hearts even now to be radically changed ...

When we started all of our schools, we began interviewing people for teaching positions.  I'll be honest and say that it's really difficult to find the right teacher for this job.  With orphaned and vulnerable children in your classrooms, it's quite hard to find those who truly love the orphan.  We battle the mindset of those who only want a promotion, a contract, more money, or a job for the now. Our schools are on the private sector of education, so we also battle the government wages and benefits.  But, we've decided that we will not just take any person who will work for a private school--we want to find the right person for the job.  However, searching for the right person is literally like searching for a needle in a haystack. Last year, we would sit in interviews all day and find ONE person.  This passed December, Kathryn set in days and days of interviews to find 4 or so.  It's not easy.  But it's really neat because the one's we do find...

A couple nights ago, my roommates and I set in my room talking about the day. I wanted to show them the song called, "Times" by Tenth Avenue North since I had forgotten about how incredible the words are until I heard it recently. After the song was over, another song began to play and before I knew it, we were worshipping with everything we had. One powerful song after another played loudly and the presence of the Holy Spirit was thick in that place. When one specific song came on, tears streamed down my face. It's called, "I Am All He Says I Am" by Cody Carnes and Kari Jobe. The words are so overwhelming that I just wept for His children--the ones sleeping in the street just a few short miles away from where I sit worshipping in the safety of my home. My mind was flooded with images of children stepping out in the middle of the road trying to flee this earth--children severely struck with sadness and pain. The 4 of us called out for our Lord to rise up ...

Over 2,000 years ago, a man prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane awaiting a fate that even he knew he had to accomplish. A fate that resulted in him dying an excruciating death in order for every person on earth to live. He, our Savior, fell before his father and said, "My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will." Matthew 26:39 Knowing death awaits him, he stood to face his betrayer fully prepared and willing to fulfill the will of His fathers before his own. Let me emphasize this, he chose to fulfill his father's will before his own. What if Jesus, at this point had said, "Alright Dad, I feel like you want me to do this, but I'm not sure I really want to die. I mean, it's going to be painful. I'm going to have to sacrifice my entire life for this. You're asking too much from me." And walked away. Where would we be today? In wisdom, obedience and love, our Savior stepped up and said,...

I love the Lord. I love how He answers prayers no matter how big or small they may be. Since I returned to Zambia in December, I've been praying to encounter Him in a more fierce, direct, and miraculous way. And boy has he delivered. In the midst of complete pain, my God answered my prayers. I have this friend. I've known him for going on 3 years now. He is so dear to me and has been for a while. He's one of those people who you always talk to when you need a laugh, but somehow can flip the switch and listen intently to your story of a hard day. Well, I thought for sure that when I moved to Africa we would most likely lose communication, but we didn't. When I came home in December, I was able to meet with him and his future wife--such a special time for me. I had hoped to see them again, but unfortunately had to settle for a simple text goodbye from the airport. Time flies when you are working so hard. It was the middle of February before I could even take a b...