Recently we went on a trip to Raya Island to do some snorkeling and beach living. It was seriously one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen in my life. I spent most of the day amazed at God’s creativity.
I started thinking about the past 18 months and the amazing things I’ve seen.
I’ve climbed on ancient Mayan ruins at Tikal in Guatemala. I skipped rocks and walked around in the Sea of Galilee. I saw the Cliffs of Moore in Ireland. I’ve prayed at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. I’ve seen some of the most beautiful mosques and temples in the world. I’ve marveled at God’s creativity while watching the sun set in Arad. (There is NOTHING like a desert sunset, by the way) I’ve ridden a camel to
the Great Pyramids in Egypt. The Great
Pyramids…It was a moment I’d only dreamed about. I floated on the Dead Sea. I went on Safari at Krueger National Park In South Africa. I saw elephants, rhinos, lions, warthogs, spring bok, impala, zebra, giraffes…not to 
mention the BEAUTIFUL landscape. I sat on the edge of Lake Malawi and marveled at its size. I’ve been snorkeling and swimming in Phuket, Thailand…which might be the most beautiful place on earth.
As I thought about it and pondered the things I’ve seen. I felt blessed. Overwhelmingly blessed. I used to feel so guilty. I mean, I didn’t raise money to travel around the world as a tourist. But God has blessed me immensely to be able to see the things I’ve seen. There is SO MUCH beauty in this world. So much. God is an INCREDIBLE artist 🙂
Then I started thinking again.
Those moments were NOT my favorite moments. They were awesome, sure. But they were not the most beautiful things I have seen on this journey. The most beautiful things I’ve seen are incredibly hard to capture with a camera. Let me share a few random, snapshot moments of beauty:
- After I led a Bible Study focusing on identity, I watched walls come down as a group of teenage girls tearfully told their testimonies for the first time. Stories of abuse and hurt and redemption. Oh so much redemption.
- The face of the Sudanese Refugee who has seen God knows what…light up when she understood something new about English.
- The smile on my friends face when she found what I wrote about her in my journal….I kind of forgot that part was in there and let her read it…I felt nothing but embarrassment and regret…she responded with nothing but love.
- A group of amazing women of God sitting around and sharing the depths on their hearts in a hostel in Istanbul, Turkey. True vulnerability and true honesty beginning a journey toward true freedom.
- Nondumiso in Swaziland and the broken heart she had when I left. I still tear up at the thought of that beautiful little one. She is totally precious. She just wants love in a place where love is rare. She told me she didn’t want me to go and that I was her best friend.
- The interaction between Tiffany, God, and I to bring healing to her finger. It was one of the most amazing moments on the race for me. Read about it here : Little Finger Faith
- Beny holding my hand through the Passion of the Christ because he couldn’t watch it on his own. He grabbed my hand and said, “Sister Amanda, I need you to pray for me because I don’t have the strength to watch this. Pray for God to give me strength” He was shaking.
- The hug Jaco gave me when I came into the meeting and burst into uncontrollable tears. He smelled pretty bad…like sour sweat. But he spoke amazing words over me and I needed it.
- Watching Jessica Phillip step into her role as a powerful woman of God as she stood on top of that well in Mozambique and preached the Gospel for all to hear. “Is anybody thirsty?” amazing.
- The faces of gratitude when we handed out food to homeless people on the streets of Beira, Mozambique. And the love that poured out of Kimi that day…. wow.
- The day Becky and I hung out on the trampoline and just laughed together.
- Seeing the physical difference in Kelly as she decided to come back to God. I had prayed and fasted 5 days for that decision. It made me cry. It was beautiful.
- Seeing God release people from fear and rejection and watching them walk into the amazing people they were created to be.
- Seeing the look on Jai’s face when I told her she was beautiful. She thought she was ugly because of her dark skin.
- Watching Sa and Pon turn from hardened prostitutes to giddy school girls on the way to have lunch with us in Phuket.
- Worshiping under the stars in the Philippines.
- We were worshiping in Vilankulos beside the lake and Scottie and Tiffany broke and opened up in beautiful vulnerability….both were met with incredible love. Scottie got baptized in the lake that night. IT was beautiful.
- Seeing the look on someone’s face when you ask them if you can pray for them. Even hardened, lost, broken men in the Red Light District are surprised and somehow even touched by it…
- I was teaching again about identity. This time to old women in Romania. They were skeptical in the beginning but warmed up quickly. I watched their hard faces melt as I continued speaking the words God put on my heart. They sang songs over us as we left them. One of them cried as she hugged me goodbye. When i walked in, I thought they were going to throw stones at me, when I left – they loved me. beautiful.
- The time in South Africa when the lies in my head debilitated me, and I asked for prayer. My friends surrounded me and all heard something significant from God. They prayed over me and released me from some junk in my life. God brought me some amazing freedom from that moment of beautiful vulnerability.
- Rose saw me again after 6 months and hugged me for a solid minute. She said she missed me but that God told her I was coming back. Wow.
- At Remember Nhu, there are two little girls that I just adored. One is 7 and the other is 8. Every day they would run up to me and hug my belly and then kiss it. I would hug them and say, “I love you, baby” to them every time I saw them. When I left, they both made me a card. On both of their cards…in awesome little girl handwriting….were printed the words “I love you, baby”. Beautiful.
- One of my students was sitting on the beach just a few days ago and stopped me. She had tears in her eyes and she said…I don’t know how to explain my trip in only 1 minute….too much happened. Beautiful.
The most beautiful moments for me have been the moments where I saw glimpses of Heaven on earth. When I saw people walking in freedom, living in love, and stepping into who God created them to be…myself included. I could go on and on with these stories.
As I sat on one of the most beautiful beaches I’ve ever seen, I began to realize, even more fully, that all of the things I’ve seen are not enough. I’ve seen and done some incredible things. And they don’t satisfy. They aren’t even my favorite moments in life.
Why is that??
Because we were not made for nature or things. We were made for relationship. period. The most beautiful moments in life do not come from what we see or do…but out of how we find and express love in this world.
We were MADE for relationship. Relationship with God and relationship with one another.
I realize more and more that love is the most beautiful thing in the world.
