This month is putting a whole new spin on the phrase “you reap what you sow.”
We have been given the opportunity to work with some young women in a sewing school and I feel like I have finally found a ministry that excites my heart in a special way. I have always loved crafts and sewing and to have the chance to minister at the same time is a huge blessing to me. We spend time in bible study before the girls start to sew and it is a way we can share the gospel with them, learn about their lives, and most importantly, love them recklessly. Most of the girls are followers of Christ and our main mission is to encourage them as they continue to seek Him. What they don’t know is that they are encouraging us also. These women have been through so much in their lives. Most Rwandans we meet have been affected in some way, shape, or form by the genocide that occurred in 1994. It was a horrific time for the country to say the least. And estimated 800,000 people were tortured and murdered in a terrible show of power put in the wrong hands.
These girls come from a rough historical background, even if some of them weren’t alive during the genocide, they are directly affected by it. A lot of them have also suffered from rough family lives and situations where they were made to feel less than adequate, and most certainly, unloved. My team and I have the honor to change the way they think about themselves by reminding them they are loved by someone what will never leave their side. We also are able to have them make us some dresses that I know are going to be absolutely adorable! While they sew, we can spend time with them, laughing and learning.
This month is also teaching me an important lesson about reaping what I sow. Although I may be physically SEWING not SOWING, I am spiritually understanding what it means to sow into things that will reap a worthy harvest in my life. Let me explain. Hosea 10:12 says, “Sow righteousness for yourselves,reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the Lord, until he comes and showers his righteousness on you.” To me, this basically means that if I spend my time pouring into truth and breaking up the unplowed ground in my heart that is keeping me from fully understanding God’s love for me, then I will reap His righteousness and unfailing love. I like the way the message bible puts the first part of this verse, “Sow righteousness, reap love. It’s time to till the ready earth, it’s time to dig in with God.” Sow righteousness, reap love. It’s that simple. Sow into things that are admirable, true, just, and beautiful, and reap in God’s perfect love. It is time to dig in with God.
This month I am spending more of my time digging in with God, trying to understand Him more and trying to have a relationship with Him, not just a stalkership where I know lots of facts about Him, but not much of who He really is. It is quite an adventure. I know that I will reap in God's love this month as I sow into Him, and I will be doing some SEWING in the process.
