It is has been entirely too long since I have last posted a blog, and for that I apologize. It seems like the longer I go between posts, the harder it is to pick back up because so much has happened. I have so much to say about India, and I really want to post a couple different blogs about what the Lord did while we were there, but for now, I’ll just give you a quick picture of what our month looked like…
We lived in a smaller town on the coast of India and worked in the slums. We went to stitching classes with women from the slums, taught nutrition classes, worked in the preschool, taught jewelry classes, shared our stories, listened to theirs, and fell in love with the beautiful women and children who lived in the community we were in. We also met women who owned shops on the beach where we lived, and my favorite moments where sitting in their shops with them, reading the Word, talking about life, praying… and maybe buying a thing or two 🙂 Their hearts are beautiful and the love of Jesus flows straight out of them. We were so blessed to be able to share life with them for a month.
We are now back in Atlanta and it has been incredible. I was unsure about how a month of ministry in America would go, but the Lord has far exceeded any expectation I could have had. We are working with Nightlight – check them out! My team and I can’t get over how much favor we have been shown. The ministries we have worked with the past four months have all been amazing and poured into us extensively.
I’ll write about what we are doing this month soon, but for now I just want to share what the Lord’s been speaking to me. I’ve been overwhelmed by God’s grace over the past few months. It seems the more I realize my need for my Savior, the more amazing grace becomes to me. Grace is so beautiful that it’s hard to find words to describe it… the fact that we are given the gift of relationship with our Father and eternity with Him when we did nothing to deserve it… really when we did everything NOT to deserve it. One of the biggest things the Lord has taught me over the past four months is that I cannot go through my day without being carried by His grace.
Grace points people to Jesus. Grace just doesn’t exist in our world today. You get what you deserve. Once you screw up, it’s all over. People who make bad choices are shunned. But what happens when grace enters the picture? When grace enters, Jesus enters and walls are broken down in hearts that people didn’t even know existed. All of a sudden, there is a relentless love that flows from acts of grace and you have no choice but to recognize the supernatural love of Jesus. When you receive grace, something in your heart changes as you feel the beauty of the love of the Father. I want my life to be an overflow of that kind of love and grace that only comes from Jesus.
I find myself waking up and falling asleep in wonder at what the Lord has done. In wonder at this world that He has created. In wonder at the way that the Kingdom of Heaven is invading the earth. In wonder at the transformation that has taken place in my heart and in the lives of the people around me. In wonder that He has brought me to where I am now. In wonder that you all have believed in me enough to send me halfway across the world. In wonder that I am loved by the King. In wonder that He calls me Beloved.
In wonder that He offers me…
grace.
