God is gracious in His gifts to us.
He is lavish in the way that He loves us.
He gives delightfully to His children.
He knows just what we need, even when we don’t know what to ask for.
I went into this month completely unsure of what to expect and therefore, unsure of what to ask God for. But God, so amazing in the way that He loves us and cares for us, provides abundantly more than you could ask or expect. For me, he gave me 6 jewels (BLING, if you will).
A jewel is defined in the dictionary as a precious stone. And there are 6 girls, living on the same manure patched road in Romania, that are precious to me. And like jewels they are rare and beautiful and lovely and unique and glorious. For a girl, jewels put a skip in your step and keep your head high. And these girls did just that for me. In a month of the race where I am still trying to figure it all out, these girls who are 9 months into their route, gave me hope and wisdom. These girls (Shannon, Kristin, Blair, Ashley, and Kara – left to right in the above picture) gave life to me.
I have figured out that on the World Race, ministry isn’t always what you might think. It isn’t always construction or playing with kids or leading people to Christ. It just looks different. Because a lot of the ministry is what God is doing in you. And to these girls, if there was any doubt of their ministry this month, it was to me. They allowed me a glimpse of reality, of normalcy into something I was very unsure of. They heroically allowed me to actually believe that I could do this AND survive.
I am so thankful for each of them. Their smiles, their grace, their help, their hugs, their laughter. I am so thankful that I was able to spend a whole month with these jewels. They have adorned my spirit in such a way that I will never be the same. Although it has been just a month, my heart overflows for them. As we part ways tomorrow, I pray they will know the impact of their love and grace and beauty on my life. Just as a new jewel on a certain finger can change a life, they have changed mine.
