This post is about celebration. Not the loud, wild, get-yo-dancing shoes on kind of celebration you may be thinking of. It’s about celebrating when it is hardest to celebrate. And how it is essential for experiencing Joy.
You see, lately my heart has been heavy for reasons I will not get into yet. And I’ve come to realize that I’ve shut myself off to celebrating the simple joys of life because of the state of my heart.
But as I reflect on my day, I am able to see small victories.
Today, our teams went out into the neighborhood where we live to hand out homemade cornbread to the families. After we were all done, me and one of my friends, Kara, decided to go back out to pray over the people in the community. Keep in mind, these people speak no English and between me and Kara, we know about two phrases in Spanish.
As we walked through the streets, God put it on our hearts to go up and ask the people directly if we could pray over them. Now, you should know that just about everyone here is outside during the day. People are cooking on their front porch, or chopping down a tree outside, or running to the corner store, or playing in the street. Also, you should know that everyone here is very kind and welcoming. So it is not uncommon to walk up to a stranger and start up a conversation.
But here me and Kara are, two American girls who speak close to no Spanish and still we felt called to pray for people. So we began walking up to people sitting on their porch and asking in Spanish if we can pray. I was astounded by the outcome. We were welcomed into people’s homes, given a place to sit and pray with them. Even with our minimal Spanish, we were able to communicate. We prayed in English, but I believe God heard our prayers and will answer them.
God really had his favor on us today. He took a couple of English-speaking girls and used us to bless the community. He softened the hearts of the people we talked to and gave them understanding, and because of that, we were able to pray over them.
Not every moment of every day is perfect. My heart is not always on cloud nine. But when I reflect on each day, I am able to recognize these small victories. Because they are worth celebrating.
