“Hear the word of the Lord, O nations, and declare it in the coastlands far away;
Say, ‘He who scattered Israel will gather him,
And will keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock.’
For the Lord has ransomed Jacob and has redeemed him from hands too strong for him.
They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion,
And they shall be radiant over the goodness of the Lord,
Over the grain, the wine, and the oil, and over the young of the flock and the herd;
Their life shall be like a watered garden, and they shall languish no more.
Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance,
And the young men and the old shall be merry.
I will turn their mourning into joy; I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow.
I will feast the soul of the priests with abundance, and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness,
Declares the Lord.”
– Jeremiah 31:10-14
So I picked up my
bible during some of the slower moments of the rummage sale I held
today, and this passage just leaped out at me. It was a huge encouragement, especially after the last two or three weeks.
bible during some of the slower moments of the rummage sale I held
today, and this passage just leaped out at me. It was a huge encouragement, especially after the last two or three weeks.
At the beginning of this week, I started to
think about the kid I was versus the adult I am now. That girl… she
was weird, but she wasn’t so afraid of her own shadow (or so to speak).
The unknown was this amazing adventure just waiting for her to go out
on, and she was willing to step out into it believing everything would
turn out to be awesome at the end. She would be too excited to stand it
about something like The World Race.
think about the kid I was versus the adult I am now. That girl… she
was weird, but she wasn’t so afraid of her own shadow (or so to speak).
The unknown was this amazing adventure just waiting for her to go out
on, and she was willing to step out into it believing everything would
turn out to be awesome at the end. She would be too excited to stand it
about something like The World Race.
All of the
above… feels like the opposite of the adult I’ve become. After the
initial rush of excitement, I was frightened by what I was getting
myself into, thinking about all the different things that could go
wrong. Adventure? Not for me. I’d be glad for someone else to do it,
and live through them on their blogs and videos, maybe even support
them financially, but to do it…
above… feels like the opposite of the adult I’ve become. After the
initial rush of excitement, I was frightened by what I was getting
myself into, thinking about all the different things that could go
wrong. Adventure? Not for me. I’d be glad for someone else to do it,
and live through them on their blogs and videos, maybe even support
them financially, but to do it…
So I asked God where she went, this girl I was, and His answer surprised me. A lot.
She’s still here.
It took me a couple of days to deal with that answer. I didn’t necessarily want to accept it. So many of the things God and I have started working on in preparation for WR have been deep-down issues of brokenness that may or may not take years to get through, I guess I assumed it would automatically be an exhaustive quest where I might finally find her in the middle of an orphanage on the other side of the world. I wasn’t prepared for the thought that God wanted to give me the answer before I left.
But in the willingness to accept that answer has come something amazing. It started with a smile and a wave from a skinny little nine year old girl wearing a short sleeved pale pink dress with tiny little bright pink flowers on it and the brightest red stockings you’ll ever see. No one’s ever told her pink and red clash, and no one’s ever told her that she can’t do something big. Hazel eyes widened as I told her about the adventure I’m about to embark on, and while she wasn’t bouncing off the walls in excitement for me, I could see it in the twinkle in her eye. The wall-bouncing did come, however, when I told her she’ll be going with me. That kind of excitement must be contagious, because ever since that conversation in my head, I’ve been every bit as excited as she is. The more we talk, the greater it gets. I’m randomly bursting into song, grinning for no particular reason, and even occasionally dancing in the kitchen. My heart is full of joy. I can’t help but rejoice because this child-like awe has been missing for so long…
I hope you have the chance to experience this, too.
