Well today we ran around Teguce by ourselves in our trusty van and only got lost one time on the way to the language training place but we'll know how to get there tomorrow. We're starting that this week and will go from 10-12 everyday for a while. Please pray that it sinks in quickly and we'll be able to communicate soon. I know it's a lot to ask but I believe God can do it. He made a donkey talk so I figure it could happen to us too. :)
Am reading a couple really really good books right now that are totally God chosen. One of them my friend Donna gave me before I left called "Fields of the Fatherless" and it talks about orphaned children, but not just orphaned children but anyone in this world who feels alone regardless of the reason, and our responsibility to them. Here's an excerpt that i read today that went hand in hand with what God was laying on my heart to type yesterday.
"Just looking at our world tells us that we have to rethink our understanding of compassion. What does it really mean to be compassionate, and how can we do this the way Jesus did? Is compassion merely showing kindness to those who are less fortunate than we are? Does it mean that in general we don't inflict pain purposely on another? Is it occasionally sending money to a charity organization or donating some clothes to a homeless shelter? While small actions can and do produce results, I suspect compassion - the way Jesus practiced it - means a bit more than that."
"The word compassion is derived from the Latin words pati and cum, which together mean 'to suffer with.' Compassion asks us to go where it hurts, to enter into places of pain, to share in brokenness, fear, confusion, and anguish. Compassion challenges us to cry out with those in misery, to mourn with those who are lonely, to weep with those in tears. Compassion requires us to be weak with the weak, vulnerable with the vulnerable, and powerless with the powerless. Compassion means full immersion in the condition of being human."
"There you have it. The definition of compassion is about involvement. To be compassionate means to get out of the boat of our current circumstances and get into the boats of those who are suffering."
I'm just hearing God so clearly tenderly speak new truth into my present definition of compassion and my mission on this earth. Thought those words were worth sharing.
The other book I'm reading is a new one by Brennan Manning (the author of the Ragamuffin Gospel which is on my top ten list and the best book on grace I've ever read). The book is called Abba's Child and was given to me as a gift by one of my favorite people in the world - my friend Jen the night before I left for the airport. By the way I miss you my friend. :)
I have only read the first few pages because there were things there that my heart just needed to chew on. Daddy's little girl is the premise and I need to rest there for a while.
These words caught my heart. "May all your expectations be frustrated, may all your plans be thwarted, may all your desires be withered into nothingness, that you may experience the powerlessness and poverty of a child and sing and dance in the love of God who is Father, Son, and Spirit. Today on planet earth, may you experience the wonder and beauty of yourself as Abba's child and a temple of the Holy Spirit through Jesus Christ our Lord."
Just some things that have caught my heart and turned the wheels in my head lately. Thought they might in yours too. May we all get involved in having a heart of Jesus kind of compassion because we understand what it feels like to rest in being Abba's child.
Love and blessings!!
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