Have
you ever had one of those moments? You know, the ones where
time just seems to stop, and yet swirl around you at the same time?
Those times when all the little pieces of life in that moment seem to
fall into place perfectly, beautifully?
The
other night I had one of those moments.
This
week, I’ve been staying with one of our teams in the city of Azua.
For those of you who have been following my blog since the very
beginning of my journey, you might remember that Azua, Dominican
Republic is actually where I started my World Race. A year and nine
months ago, I began this crazy thing called the World Race working
with our incredible contacts, Raul and Zanza, and their ministry here
in Azua.
That
month was one of my favorites on the World Race. I loved the
community, the people, the ministry, Raul and Zanza and their kids.
And amazingly, God gave me the opportunity to come back to Azua and
reconnect with Raul and his ministry while I spend time here with one
of our teams that is working with him this month.
It’s
been such a blessing to be back here, but more than being here to
walk down memory lane, I’m here to serve and pour into the team
that’s here. And this week has been a hard one for them. Three days
in a row, three of the girls woke up to news from home that a
grandparent had died. They were standing strong, still going out and
serving and giving one hundred percent, but it was clear that what
they really needed was just some time to process and grieve the pain
and sadness of loss.
Becky,
their team leader, told Raul what was going on and asked to have the
night off, and instead of leading Bible study, to just be able to
spend some time as a team and with the Lord. Raul said that was
fine, so we headed off to the beach as he headed to the church for
Bible study.
got to the beach and went to a house that another mission owns that
overlooks the beach. We climbed up to the roof and were struck by
the beauty that was surrounding us.
flowers, sunset.
encompassed by some of the most beautiful
created.
For
the next little while, we just worshiped.
We
worshiped God
despite
pain,
surrounded
by beauty,
in
the midst of community.
After
awhile, we looked down and saw Raul and a group from the church,
Bibles in hand, climbing the roof to join us. We were completely
surprised–didn’t we tell him that we needed time away tonight?
Didn’t he understand that we couldn’t do the Bible study with them
tonight?
then as Raul reached us and started talking, I was completely humbled
and blown away
He
told us they were there to pray for us and support us. He said there
was no way that they could sit at the church and have a Bible study
while they knew their sisters were hurting.
said, “The Bible says that we rejoice with those who rejoice and
mourn with those who mourn.
Suddenly
we were surrounded by our Dominican brothers and sisters, as they
laid hands on us and began praying and worshiping and reading
Scripture over us.
And
that’s when it happened, one of those moments.
For
a moment, I was lost not only in the beauty of the stunning scenery
that surrounded us on every side, but also the beauty of the body of
Christ literally surrounding their hurting sisters.
For
a moment, time seemed to stand still, letting me soak in this mosaic
of languages and landscapes and skin colors and pain and joy and
healing.
a moment, I caught a glimpse of true beauty, true love.
The
love of our Creator in the beauty of creation.
The
love of our Father in the beauty of his family that we are a part of.
love of our God in the beauty of sharing this moment with people and
in a place that holds
What
an incredible God, who not only shares beauty and love with us, but
does it in the most unexpected ways–in the midst of pain, through
the people that we are here to serve, across languages and cultures.
Lord,
give us eyes to see those moments, to recognize your beauty in the
pain, to appreciate the love you share with us through the people
around us. You are beauty, and you are love. Let us see you.
