One year ago today I began my journey to Ongole India to
serve at Sarah’s Covenant Homes. I was immediately thrown into experiences that
stretched me in the most uncomfortable ways, but inevitably grew me in beautiful
ways.
One year ago today I was an entirely different person;
insecure in my worth in the Lord, struggling with what it meant to be in a
Godly relationship, and trying desperately to believe that God knew what he was
doing.
One year ago today, marked the beginning of a summer that
taught me what it means to serve, that showed me the beauty of God’s grace, and
gave me victory over so many lies and insecurities I believed about myself.
Today I sometimes still find myself struggling with
insecurities about my worth in the Lord, but I know that I am redeemed by my
father who loves me through my flaws and insecurities. I have been so
incredibly blessed in the past year to meet and marry a man that loves the Lord
first, and loves me second. I am learning more and more every day to trust that
God is good, and he knows what he’s doing. I am trying to listen. I am trying
to follow.
Today I still miss India every day. Every single day. My
heart suddenly grows heavy when I think of that wonderful country, and every part of me
aches to be back there, to once again be a part of the ministry pouring so much
into the lives of the beautiful children in their care.
Today I am trusting that, while it may not be India, I am
exactly where I need to be for this season. I am serving with a ministry in the
Tenderloin neighborhood of San Francisco, a ministry that exists to intervene
on behalf of the people of the inner city. I am learning that the mission field
doesn’t have to be an eleven-hour time difference away. I am seeing the
brokenness that exists in our own backyard, and how the people in a city here,
in America, need to hear the truth about a God that loves and pours out Grace,
just as much as a the people in a city in India, or Africa, or China.
Today I am learning to love the faces and stories of the
people of the Tenderloin; the lonely, the broken, the lost. I am trying to love
them like I loved the sweet children in India- past their tempers, and their
disobedience and their stubbornness to listen, in hopes of building
relationships that point them toward Grace.
Today I am realizing how much God has done in a year.
Joe and I will be spending the summer serving here with San
Francisco City Impact.
Read more about their ministries here.
Read more about Sarah’s Covenant Homes here.
Find out how to sponsor one of their sweet children here.
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