As I thought about how I wanted to begin to write this blog, I allowed the memories and events that happened over this past week to flow through my mind once more and refresh my memory of all the tiny yet significant details. I have had many “firsts” here in Africa and experienced things that I certainly did not expect. I have seen Jesus in people and situations that blew my doors off. I have loved people who I can’t even hold conversations with because I know very little Swahili and they only know, “How are you? I am fine,” in English. I have shed more tears here than I have in the past year combined, but many times the tears are full of pure joy and nothing else. I have realized that I am more precious to my Father than anything else in this universe.
I have witnessed a man who is more like Jesus than anyone else I have met in my entire life, other than my dad, have Christians turn their backs on him and his ministry in front of hundreds of people. Yet, the words from his mouth were, “Don’t be discouraged, God is in control.” The way that this man glorifies God and seeks His face in absolutely everything is a testimony to me in a huge way. I have driven by a crowd of people watching and laughing as two men were stoned nearly to death on the side of the road because they had committed a crime. God has altered my perspective of Him greatly, but in such a beautiful way.
There was an instance at the beginning of my time in Kenya when I prayed that God would allow me to take on the pain of another human being and then have Him proceed to take that pain away from me because I didn’t know what else to do. He did it, but it was somewhat of a dangerous prayer because nowadays I feel everything so deeply that it is sometimes very uncomfortable, yet motivating. My amazing Mom has experienced this before, and I’m finally figuring out what it’s like to experience someone else’s pain without being directly involved. It’s true when Jesus says that He feels the things that we feel, whether it’s joy or pain, He knows it all.
As my team and I were sitting outside tonight, surrounded by African children that piled around us so tightly, making it impossible to even lie down in the grass, I gazed up at the stars and God brought a few things to my mind. We were watching The Passion of the Christ in the town, and the Southern Cross star arrangement was extremely visible to me. The only other time that I have seen the Southern Cross was in New Zealand last summer, and God reminded me of His faithfulness. God completely changed my life on that trip, and He has only done even more within me since.
At one point, there was an adorable little girl sitting in my lap, resting her back and head against me, and pulling out my leg hairs (no, I haven’t shaved my legs in a month. No Shave November has spilled over into June and July, but that’s beside the point). When I looked up at the Southern Cross, the star at the bottom was twinkling like crazy, and God just reminded me of this: “Sara, think of how much you love and want to protect this child that you barely even know who is ripping out your hairs one by one and trusting you without being proven to that you are trustworthy. Now, multiply that by the number of stars that you see in the sky, and my love for you is infinitely more than that. For heaven’s sake, I sent my perfect Son for you and for this child so that you both may live. No, you will not always be comfortable or accepted by everyone you meet, but that isn’t important. If you give me your whole heart and trust me with everything you hold dearest to you, I will treasure it and protect it because I am yours and you are mine. You are more beautiful to me than my creation (and let me tell you, I cannot get enough of God’s creation and its beauty), and I will ALWAYS walk through life with you. My plans for you are crazy awesome, so know that you, my daughter, will do great things because I am great.”
Good gracious, do I serve an awesome God or what?! I think that I will finish with this: “For you are a holy people, who belong to the Lord your God. Of all the people on earth, the Lord your God has chosen YOU to be his own special treasure.” Deuteronomy 7:6
A beautiful girl named Rosaline who has quite a goofy side.
An adorable orphan named Faith for a reason.
